Samenwerking tussen de veterinaire faculteiten van Utrecht en Onderstepoort. Een politieke geschiedenis.

Utrecht University has played an important role in providing academic training for South African students. Professors at Utrecht stressed the Dutch roots of the Boers and supported their cause. In the 1920s, the board of the veterinary faculty encouraged collaboration with colleagues from the veterinary school at Onderstepoort. Not only would this broaden the scientific horizon, but also create jobs for Dutch vets in South Africa, in addition to employment in the Dutch East Indies. Hence, the connection with Onderstepoort was framed in the context of colonial veterinary medicine. The collaboration became concrete. In 1931 South African veterinarian Phillip Fourie became the first foreigner to receive a PhD in veterinary medicine at Utrecht University. Sir Arnold Theiler received an honorary doctorate from Utrecht University in 1936. His successor, Petrus du Toit, obtained the same honor in 1948, the year in which apartheid was officially adopted in South Africa. In the 1970s ethical debates on the colonial heritage were held within Dutch politics. The dubious role Dutchmen had played in this former colony, ultimately resulting in apartheid, was heavily criticized. The Netherlands imposed a cultural and academic boycott against South Africa in 1986. The post-colonial era witnessed a shift from colonial exploitation to development collaboration. After the abolition of apartheid in 1990, rapprochement between Utrecht University and South African universities took place.