Georgetown University Continues Slavery Reparations Effort

Georgetown University grapples with its history by discussing a reparation for descendants of slaves sold by the Maryland Jesuits in 1838. (Flickr)

“How do we address now, in this moment, the enduring and persistent legacies of slavery?”

With these words, President John J. DeGioia of Georgetown University announced the official creation of a slavery reparations fund on October 29 in a letter addressed to the Georgetown community. 

The update comes six months after a student referendum proposing a student fee to be added to the university’s tuition to build the fund. While the university is moving forward with creating the fund, there will not be a fee for students to pay. However, DeGioia assured that “The University will ensure that the initiative has resources to commensurate with, or exceeding, the amount that would have been raised annually through the student fee proposed in the Referendum, with opportunities for every member of our community to contribute.”

The referendum was proposed in April 2019,  and it passed with 66.1 percent of the vote. Since then, the student body has been waiting to see how the university would address the popular but non-binding referendum. 

The referendum proposed a student fee of $27.20, symbolizing the 272 slaves sold by the Maryland Jesuits in 1838. The money generated from the sale, equivalent to $2,705,734 in today’s dollars, was used to pay off outstanding debts and ensure that the university remained open. This was in direct violation of Rome’s conditions for the sale of slaves, along with rules against separating slave families and creating provisions for the religious practices of slaves, which were also not observed. 

This fund is the most recent iteration of Georgetown University’s attempts to reconcile its history with slavery. Other efforts include the GU272, an association for direct descendants of the 272 sold slaves, renaming two campus buildings after slaves, a preferred admission program for the descendants, and the Georgetown Slavery Archive, an online collection of “materials relating to the Maryland Jesuits, Georgetown University, and slavery.”

According to DeGioia, the fund will be managed by an advisory group that will direct projects supporting “community-based projects with Descendant communities.” While specific ideas have not been announced, the administration has outlined long-term projects, one of which is related to healthcare. 

The announcement has been met with mixed reactions. The student group Students for GU272 have denounced the initiative, saying it “directly negates the wishes” of the original referendum by relying on private donations instead of a student fee. 

The student body will not forget the legacy of slavery. In the Office of the Student Association in the Leavy Center, posters hang in the windows saying that “This school exists because of slavery.”