Efforts to create a fund and hold a campuswide referendum on the proposal come amid a fierce national debate on race and historical wrongs.
By Susan Svrluga Susan Svrluga Reporter covering higher education for the Grade Point blog Email Bio Follow April 11 at 7:45 PM Georgetown University student activists are pushing to create a reparations fund for the descendants of slaves, one that would use a student fee to send a message that historical wrongs will not be forgotten — and to prod administrators to move more quickly on what students call a fundamental moral question.
When the Class of 2019 arrived at Georgetown, the university was making national headlines for acknowledging its historical ties to the slave trade and pledging to make amends. “As students at an elite institution, we recognize the great privileges we have been given, and wish to at least partially repay our debts to those families whose involuntary sacrifices made these privileges possible,” the sponsors wrote in the referendum. “As individuals with moral imagination, we choose to do more than simply recognize the past — we resolve to change our future.”
She said the descendants she represents are hoping for a favorable vote that would encourage the university to do more than just talk and study the history, “and transfer some of that wealth to the descendants. . . . How Georgetown can continue in good faith to reap the financial benefits on the backs of slaves is unbelievable.”
That history had been known for decades when students and others pushed it to the fore in recent years. Since 2015, the university has offered a formal apology, renamed buildings and given descendants an advantage in admissions.
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