Hundreds of years after slavery ended in the United States and months after meeting with disgruntled students at Georgetown University, President John J. DeGioia is still trying to make amends. The funds-strapped university was involved in selling 272 slaves in 1838.
After a fall sit-in, DeGioia agreed to change the names of Mulledy Hall, named after Georgetown President Thomas F. Mulledy, to Freedom Hall. McSherry Hall, named after William McSherry who served as an adviser on the sale trade, was renamed Remembrance Hall.
As The Washington Post reported, DeGioia is looking to make other amends, though exact plans have not yet been decided. He called the planning “an important moment in the life of our university.” During the summer the university will come up with actions for addressing slavery, racism, and segregation for the nation and the university. “I don’t think putting a plaque on the wall is going to be an answer,” he said.
Over the past few months the university has decided to expand its African American studies faculty and establish a research center on racial injustice. DeGioia also received a draft report on “Working Group on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation” put together by a panel.
DeGioia is additionally going to meet with descendants of the slaves and hopes that Georgetown can play a role to “re-knit” and “re-connect” families that were broken apart from the slave sale. He didn’t want to assume how the descendants view their relationship to the school, however.
During the sit-in the students demanded reparations be made, establishing an endowment to match what the university made, to be used for scholarships or professorship based on race issues.
Many have referenced and argued that reparations are long overdue. Millennials are the first generation to be in favor of or unsure if reparations should be paid, according to a May Exclusive Point Taken-Marist poll.
