Georgetown University to Make Amends for 1838 Slave Sale This Summer: Report

Georgetown University intends to make a major effort this summer to make amends for the school's sale of 272 slaves back in 1838, according to a report.

The Washington Post is reporting that Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia is planning a significant effort to atone for the university's sins with a number of actions that will be revealed later this summer.

That will likely include installing some sort of memorial on the university campus, but that won't be all the school intends to do, DeGioia was quoted as saying.

Back in February, the university expanded its faculty in African American studies as well as created a research center that is focused on racial injustice.

Georgetown University conducted the slave sale to generate money to pay for an expansion to the campus. School leadership organized the sale of 272 slaves from a Jesuit tobacco plantation in Maryland to a plantation in Louisiana. One of the school presidents, Thomas F. Mulledy, was later disciplined by the Jesuit Society in Rome for not keeping the slaves' families intact.

DeGioia will be traveling to Louisiana next week to meet with some of the slaves' descendants, according to the Post.

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