Slave Descendents Will Move to the Front of the Line at Georgetown University

GEORGETOWN, DC — As part of an effort to atone for its sins with regards to slavery, Georgetown University is not only apologizing for its past but also putting descendants of slavery at the front of the line in the admissions process.

One particularly dark event in the university's history was when it sold 272 slaves in 1838 and used the proceeds to pay off the Jesuit college's debts and fund an expansion project — even splitting up families of slaves in the process. On Sept. 1, Georgetown University President John DeGioia outlined the steps the university would take in attempt to right some of those wrongs.

Descendants of slaves who were owned by the Jesuits will be given the same preference that university applicants whose parent or grandparent attended the school will get, according to a statement from the university.

“As we join the Georgetown community we must understand that part of our history is this history of slaveholding and the slave trade,” said the Rev. David Collins, chair of the university's Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, in the statement. “And that opens our eyes to broader social issues that are still unhealed in our nation. History matters up to the present and into the future.”

The announcement comes after a report and recommendations of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, which was convened last September.

The following is a list of changes from the university:

• Offering a Mass of Reconciliation in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Washington and the Society of Jesus in the United States, and engaging the Georgetown community in a “Journey of Reconciliation"
• Naming the building Freedom Hall (once known as Mulledy Hall) as Isaac Hall and name the building Remembrance Hall (once known as McSherry Hall) as Anne Marie Becraft Hall
• Engaging descendants and members of our community in developing a shared understanding, determining priorities, and creating processes and structures
• Establishing a living and evolving memorial to the slaves from whom Georgetown benefitted and establishing a Working Group, including descendants of those slaves, to advise on its creation
• Establishing the Institute for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies at Georgetown to support the continued, active engagement with descendants, sustained research and other actions
• Giving descendants the same consideration we give members of the Georgetown community in the admissions process
• Strengthening Georgetown’s Library and its Special Collections to promote scholarship in the field of racial justice and deepen archival resources to support genealogical work
• Working to identify new ways to enhance access and opportunity for those who wish to attend college and continue to support schools like Cristo Rey that seek to provide stronger pathways to higher education.

Image via Wikimedia user Daderot