University to Rename Two Buildings That Reflect School’s Ties to Slavery

Georgetown University will rename two buildings named for school presidents who organized the sale of Jesuit-owned slaves to help pay off campus debt in the 1830s, the university’s president announced.

Mulledy Hall, a new student dormitory named for the president who authorized the sale of about 272 slaves to a Louisiana plantation owner in 1838, will be called Freedom Hall until a permanent name is chosen.

McSherry Hall, which houses a meditation center and was named for another university president who served as an adviser on the slave sale, will be called Remembrance Hall until it is renamed.

In a letter e-mailed to the Georgetown community Saturday evening, President John J. DeGioia said he was changing the names based on a recommendation he received Friday from his Working Group on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation. DeGioia appointed the panel of 16 administrators, faculty and students in September to examine slavery­-related sites on campus . . .

The announcement came amid weeks of heightened racial tensions at some U.S. universities, including a demonstration Thursday in Georgetown’s Red Square. A reported 250 Georgetown students and other activists gathered to show solidarity with students protesting the failure of administrators at the University of Missouri and Yale University to take complaints about racism and racial incidents on their campuses seriously. (Read more from “University to Rename Two Buildings That Reflect School’s Ties to Slavery” HERE)

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