Student Protests Force Georgetown To Rename Buildings Honoring Slaveowners
The school acknowledged that it had profited 'unjustly' from the sale of 272 slaves in 1838
by mtv news staff 11/16/2015
By Channing Joseph
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has announced it will change the names of two campus buildings honoring men who profited from selling slaves more than 170 years ago.
One building, Mulledy Hall, is named for Thomas F. Mulledy, a Jesuit priest and university president who sold 272 slaves to a Louisiana plantation in 1838 to pay off Georgetown’s enormous debts. The second building, McSherry Hall, is named after William McSherry, another Georgetown president who advised Mulledy in the sale.
On Friday, 50 students staged a sit-in in the university president’s office, taking over an entire floor of the office and vowing not to leave until the names were changed. For now, the buildings will be temporarily called Freedom Hall and Remembrance Hall until more permanent names are chosen.
In August, Georgetown President John J. DeGioia discussed the buildings’ connections to slavery in a letter to the campus. The next month, he convened a committee made up faculty, staff and students (called “the working group”) to study the best ways for Georgetown to acknowledge that painful past.
The committee has since concluded that the university was “unjustly enriched” by the slave sale, which raised $115,000 at the time, or roughly $2.5 million in today’s currency. Many now believe that that influx of cash is largely responsible for securing the school’s position as one of the great American universities.
DeGioia announced the decision Saturday.
His decision was met with praise by some students, including Queen Adesuyi, 21, a senior from Bronx, New York, who helped organize the sit-in.
“Once we found out the significance of the name, we definitely thought it was imperative that our school took a stance on changing it,” Adesuyi told MTV News. “In realizing the history, it’s hard to say that Georgetown could be the university it is today without that sale.”
She and other protesters would also like to see the university install a plaque to honor the unmarked graves of slaves as well as to create an African-American studies major.
“There’s only a minor,”said Crystal Walker, 21, a senior from Oklahoma City who serves on the university’s working group. “There’s an American studies major, but in that major, there are no African-American studies requirements.”
She added: “There’s definitely ways that Georgetown can be better at addressing issues that arise among black students and other students of color.”
Walker and Adesuyi would like to see Mulledy Hall’s name changed to Building 272, in memory of the 272 slaves sold.
But DeGioia’s decision to rename the buildings was met with some criticism as well.
In response to the announcement, one Facebook commenter wrote:
“What are we going to call the Washington and Jefferson Memorials? They profited from slavery. Is it wrong that we honor them? … Fortunately slavery no longer exists but changing or eliminating a name does not change that it did. The country has advanced to having elected a black President. Shouldn’t that be honored rather than focus on issues from 1838?”
Another wrote:
“This is ridiculous! Should we also rename Washington, DC? You can’t erase history and it’s unfair to judge the past based on our standards today. This is a sin Georgetown.”
Georgetown is not the only university with connections to slavery — not by a long shot. Many of the country’s oldest and most prestigious colleges have deep links to slavery, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Brown.
Georgetown students said they planned to continue their protests, standing in solidarity with their peers combating racism at schools in the United States and abroad.
by mtv news staff 11/16/2015
By Channing Joseph
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., has announced it will change the names of two campus buildings honoring men who profited from selling slaves more than 170 years ago.
One building, Mulledy Hall, is named for Thomas F. Mulledy, a Jesuit priest and university president who sold 272 slaves to a Louisiana plantation in 1838 to pay off Georgetown’s enormous debts. The second building, McSherry Hall, is named after William McSherry, another Georgetown president who advised Mulledy in the sale.
On Friday, 50 students staged a sit-in in the university president’s office, taking over an entire floor of the office and vowing not to leave until the names were changed. For now, the buildings will be temporarily called Freedom Hall and Remembrance Hall until more permanent names are chosen.
In August, Georgetown President John J. DeGioia discussed the buildings’ connections to slavery in a letter to the campus. The next month, he convened a committee made up faculty, staff and students (called “the working group”) to study the best ways for Georgetown to acknowledge that painful past.
The committee has since concluded that the university was “unjustly enriched” by the slave sale, which raised $115,000 at the time, or roughly $2.5 million in today’s currency. Many now believe that that influx of cash is largely responsible for securing the school’s position as one of the great American universities.
DeGioia announced the decision Saturday.
His decision was met with praise by some students, including Queen Adesuyi, 21, a senior from Bronx, New York, who helped organize the sit-in.
“Once we found out the significance of the name, we definitely thought it was imperative that our school took a stance on changing it,” Adesuyi told MTV News. “In realizing the history, it’s hard to say that Georgetown could be the university it is today without that sale.”
She and other protesters would also like to see the university install a plaque to honor the unmarked graves of slaves as well as to create an African-American studies major.
“There’s only a minor,”said Crystal Walker, 21, a senior from Oklahoma City who serves on the university’s working group. “There’s an American studies major, but in that major, there are no African-American studies requirements.”
She added: “There’s definitely ways that Georgetown can be better at addressing issues that arise among black students and other students of color.”
Walker and Adesuyi would like to see Mulledy Hall’s name changed to Building 272, in memory of the 272 slaves sold.
But DeGioia’s decision to rename the buildings was met with some criticism as well.
In response to the announcement, one Facebook commenter wrote:
“What are we going to call the Washington and Jefferson Memorials? They profited from slavery. Is it wrong that we honor them? … Fortunately slavery no longer exists but changing or eliminating a name does not change that it did. The country has advanced to having elected a black President. Shouldn’t that be honored rather than focus on issues from 1838?”
Another wrote:
“This is ridiculous! Should we also rename Washington, DC? You can’t erase history and it’s unfair to judge the past based on our standards today. This is a sin Georgetown.”
Georgetown is not the only university with connections to slavery — not by a long shot. Many of the country’s oldest and most prestigious colleges have deep links to slavery, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Brown.
Georgetown students said they planned to continue their protests, standing in solidarity with their peers combating racism at schools in the United States and abroad.
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