University Professor Cecil Abrahams to discuss role of sports in ending apartheid March 22

University Professor Cecil Abrahams to discuss role of sports in ending apartheid March 22March 21, 2007Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

Cecil Abrahams, Visiting University Professor and professor of cultural foundations and higher education in the School of Education, will present a lecture titled “Racism in Sport: How Rugby Helped Expose Apartheid to the World” on Thursday, March 22, at 6:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The lecture is open to the public. Parking is in the Irving Avenue Garage.

A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Abrahams is an accomplished writer, administrator, academic and activist. He received a Ph.D. in English romantic literature from the University of Alberta. His long and accomplished career as an academic and administrator has taken him to universities around the world; he joined the SU faculty as Visiting University Professor in 2004.

Abrahams is known for his steadfast and courageous opposition to South Africa’s apartheid regime. An accomplished sportsman in soccer, cricket and rugby, he was denied opportunities to represent South Africa in international sporting events because of his race. In defiance of that injustice, Abrahams joined the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC) while in exile in Canada and helped organize the boycott by African and Caribbean countries of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He also was instrumental in efforts to ban South Africa from the Olympics and other international athletic events.

Abrahams will remain for a reception after his speech, to which all who attend the speech are invited.