Georgetown University To Give Slave Descendants Priority For Admission

FILE - In this July 10, 2013, file photo, prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington. The good news is that Americans are saving more than ever for college. The bad news is that the averag... FILE - In this July 10, 2013, file photo, prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington. The good news is that Americans are saving more than ever for college. The bad news is that the average amount still isn’t enough to cover one year at a four-year public university. In a report released Tuesday. Sept. 9, 2014, the College Savings Plans Network found that the average college savings or prepaid tuition account is now worth about $20,671 _ almost double what these “529” accounts were worth during the dog-days of the recession. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Georgetown University will give preference in admissions to the descendants of slaves owned by the Maryland Jesuits as part of its effort to atone for profiting from the sale of enslaved people.

Georgetown president John DeGioia told news outlets that the university in Washington will implement the admissions preferences. He says Georgetown will need to identify and reach out to descendants of slaves and recruit them to the university.

On Thursday morning, a university committee released a report that also called on its leaders to offer a formal apology for the university’s participation in the slave trade.

In 1838, two priests who served as president of the university orchestrated the sale of 272 people to pay off debts at the school. The slaves were sent from Maryland to plantations in Louisiana.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  1. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    And the red states “The South Will Rise Again” nutballs are scratching their heads and thinking, “Way are they apologizing?”

  2. I have reservations about this. I thought Affirmative action was already in play.

  3. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    In 1838, two priests who served as president of the university
    orchestrated the sale of 272 people to pay off debts at the school. The
    slaves were sent from Maryland to plantations in Louisiana.

    This is specifically about the descendants of the people that the University sold as slaves.

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