Georgetown University could become the first college in the nation to mandate a fee to benefit descendants of slaves sold by the university nearly 200 years ago – a debate that takes place against the backdrop of a broader political conversation unfolding on the 2020 presidential campaign trail about reparations.
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/georgetown-tests-case-reparations-longstanding-political-debate-unfolds-082844818--abc-news-topstories.html
By almost a 2-to-1 margin, students approved the measure, which still must be approved by the university to go into effect.
"Student referendums help to express important student perspectives but do not create university policy and are not binding," Matt Hill, the university's media relations manager, told ABC News in a statement. "The university will carefully review the results of the referendum, and regardless of the outcome, will remain committed to engaging with students, Descendants, and the broader Georgetown community and addressing its historical relationship to slavery."
The school's undergraduates voted Thursday on the referendum, which would increase tuition by $27.20 per semester to create a fund benefiting descendants of the 272 slaves sold to pay off the Georgetown Jesuits' debt – a move that saved the university financially.
"The Jesuits sold my family and 40 other families so you could be here," sophomore Melisande Short-Colomb, a Georgetown student, said during a town hall to discuss the issue last week.
She's one of four students currently attending the university under an admissions policy that considers the descendants of the 272 slaves as "legacy" students.
That group also includes Elizabeth Thomas, who will receive her master's degree from Georgetown University in May and is a desk assistant at ABC News in Washington. She's a descendant of Sam and Betsy Harris, who were enslaved and sold by Georgetown University in 1838. If the current referendum passes, it's unclear whether Thomas would receive any reparations in the future.