NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Former Columbia Law School Dean Benno C. Schmidt Jr. was inaugurated as Yale University's 20th president Saturday amid anti-apartheid demonstrations that delayed the ceremony.
About 200 protesters, some wearing white death masks and carrying miniature coffins, were shoved aside by police on motorcycles and horseback. The students chanted "Apartheid Kills, Yale Pays the Bills" and other slogans denouncing the Ivy League school's $400 million in South Africa-related investments.
The marchers were attempting to disrupt Schmidt's procession from the Gothic-style Sterling Memorial Library to Woolsey Hall.
Schmidt was not accosted. The ceremonies began about one half-hour late.
Schmidt, 44, an expert on the First Amendment, has expressed support for the university policy that allows investments in companies that do business in South Africa as long as certain anti-apartheid guidelines are met by the companies.
Schmidt began his duties as Yale's president nearly three months ago, succeeding A. Bartlett Giamatti, who has become president of baseball's National League.
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