As we mourn the death of Nelson Mandela, the Trent University community is remembering the remarkable man who inspired the world as he led South Africa out of the darkness of apartheid.

"Nelson Mandela's words gave us the courage to believe. His courage gave us the strength to act. And his action changed not only his country, but the world's perception of human rights and freedom," said Dr. Steven E. Franklin, president and vice-chancellor of Trent University.

Mr. Mandela, who went on to lead his country as president of South Africa, was bestowed with an honorary degree from Trent University in the fall of 1986. At the ceremony that year, in a break from University tradition, Trent awarded Mr. Mandela an honorary degree in absentia as a prisoner of conscience. Mr. Mandela was serving a life-sentence in prison at the time he was awarded the Doctor of Laws honoris causa at the fall convocation ceremony on October 25, 1986. The Hon. Mr. Justice Walter Tarnopolsky, judge of the Supreme Court of Ontario, and a prominent Canadian civil libertarian, who was awarded an honorary degree at the same ceremony, accepted the honour on behalf of Mr. Mandela as well as Andrei Sakharov, a human rights leader in the former USSR, who was under tight Soviet police surveillance at the time and also unable to accept the degree in person.

In tribute to Mr. Mandela, the University has lowered the flag atop the Bata Library to the half-mast position.

About Nelson Mandela

Born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918, Nelson Mandela was later educated as a lawyer before joining the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944. After 1948, he was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies. When the ANC was made illegal in 1963, the entire ANC leadership was arrested and Mr. Mandela was one of eight sentenced to life in prison.

During his years in prison, Mr. Mandela's reputation grew steadily. Widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa, he became a powerful symbol of resistance in the growing anti-apartheid movement. Throughout his imprisonment, he consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.

Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990. Following his release, he devoted himself to his life’s work, picking up on the goals he and others had set nearly four decades earlier. In 1993 he and President FW de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize. On May 10, 1994 he was inaugurated South Africa's first democratically-elected president and stepped down after one term in 1999. Outside of the political area, Mr. Mandela worked tirelessly with the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund he set up in 1995 as well as his Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Mandela-Rhodes Foundation.