CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH: A Mandela Visit to Campus

Note: Each day during February, Stetson will highlight a different reason for the university to celebrate Black History Month.

Ndaba Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, presented at Stetson in 2019.

On March 26, 2019, Ndaba Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, visited the Stetson campus and presented “From Prisoner to President: The Mandela Legacy Lives On” to the Stetson community and the public. Almost every chair was filled in the Stetson Room of the Carlton Union Building when then-University President Wendy B. Libby, PhD, stood to introduce Mandela. 

book cover of Ndaba Mandela with his grandfather, Nelson Mandela
In June 2018, Ndaba Mandela authored “Going to the Mountain: Life Lessons from My Grandfather, Nelson Mandela.”

Of course, Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first Black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.

Throughout his presentation, Ndaba Mandela stressed the need for empowerment among the youth and a focus on the future. The founder and chair of Africa Rising Foundation, he emphasized the power of “breaking down misconceptions” about Africa and about social justice. In 2018, his “Going to the Mountain: Life Lessons from My Grandfather, Nelson Mandela” was published.

Ndaba Mandela’s visit was sponsored by Stetson’s Multicultural Student Council, partnering with the Student Government Association, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Muslim Student Association.