The Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Initiative originated as a response to the growing public awareness of Georgetown’s involvement with slavery. In September 2015, President John J. DeGioia convened the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, a group of faculty, students, and staff. This page provides access to university websites; the publications of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation; statements and reports by the Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia; and University news.
Websites
Publications of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation
“What We Know Booklet,” Georgetown Slavery Archive
Report of the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation to the President of Georgetown University, Summer 2016
Statements and Reports by Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia
Announcing the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, September 2015
Responding to Racial Injustice: New Commitments, February 2016
Racial Justice, A Georgetown Response, Continuing the Conversation, September 1, 2016
Invitation to events related to Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, April 18, 2017
An Update on Efforts Related to Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, January 12, 2018
Regarding the Student Referendum and our Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Efforts, April 12, 2019
Next Steps on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation, October 29, 2019
Confronting Racism, May 31, 2020
An Update on the Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Initiative, March 16, 2021
Announcing the Center for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies, March 17, 2023
Today’s Supreme Court Ruling and Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, June 23, 2023
Race, Elite College Admissions, and the Courts, report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (2023)
University News (selected)
Georgetown President Makes Major Commitments to Racial Justice, February 5, 2016
New Black Georgetown Remembered Book Celebrated with Community, February 25, 2016
Board Approves Department of African American Studies, June 17, 2016
Georgetown Shares Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Report, Racial Justice Steps, September 1, 2016
University Begins Series on the Condition of African American D.C. Residents, September 16, 2016
Mellon Grant Helps University Advance Racial Justice Recommendations, February 13, 2017
Georgetown Continues Engagement with Descendants, Historical Relationship to Slavery, March 24, 2017
Building to be Renamed for Pioneer Black Educator Anne Marie Becraft, April 13, 2017
Georgetown to Rename Building for Isaac Hawkins, One of 272 Enslaved in 1838 Sale, April 13, 2017
Georgetown Apologizes for 1838 Sale of More than 270 Enslaved, Dedicates Buildings, April 18, 2017
DC Jail Students Benefit from Georgetown’s Popular Problem of God Course, August 29, 2019
Enslaved Ancestors Remembered as Retiree Starts as Georgetown Undergrad, August 29, 2017
DC Jail Students Benefit from Georgetown’s Popular Problem of God Course, August 20, 2019
New Undergrad Course Examines University’s Historical Connection to Slavery, November 26, 2019
Prison Scholars Program Receives $1 Million Mellon Foundation Grant, December 19, 2019
History of Enslavement Project to Create Common Database for Universities, August 3, 2020
Master’s Student Examines Effects of Slavery in History of the White House through Fellowship, January 22, 2021
Georgetown Launches Racial Justice Institute with Multidisciplinary Leadership, February 22, 2021 (updated July 10, 2023)
Georgetown Continues Support as Jesuits, Descendants of Enslaved Form Foundation, March 15, 2021
Georgetown Preserves Memory, Charts Path for Lasting Change at Emancipation Day Conference on Legacies of Enslavement, May 5, 2021
Black Georgetown Rediscovered: Students Help Preserve History at Underground Railroad Hideout, July 8, 2021
Incoming Medical Students Begin Education with Anti-Racist Curriculum, August 11, 2022
Georgetown Forms 5-Year Partnership with Southern University System, May 26, 2022
Georgetown Launches $400,000 Annual Fund to Support Descendants of the Enslaved, October 26, 2022
Georgetown Awards Funding to 5 Projects that Support Descendant Communities, April 28, 2023
Georgetown’s Center on Slavery Launches with Carlos Simon Tribute Honoring the Enslaved, September 25, 2023