September 15th 2023.
Georgetown University and the Jesuits have made a huge move in rectifying the wrongs of its past. Both institutions have pledged a total of $27 million in money and land donations to the descendants of 19th-century enslaved people who were sold to fund the university.
The Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation confirmed the gifts of $10 million from Georgetown and an additional $17 million from the Jesuits in the form of financial retribution and plantation land. Monique Trusclair Maddox, CEO of the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation and chair of its board of directors, said that this contribution was a call to action for all of the Catholic Church to take meaningful steps to address the harm done through centuries of slaveholding.
The donations are in response to the sale of 272 enslaved men, women, and children from Jesuit plantations to settle Georgetown’s debts in 1838. Georgetown has a long-term plan to pledge over $1 billion through the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation. Additionally, the Jesuits made a $100 million commitment to the efforts in 2021.
The foundation will use the funds to invest in the lifelong education of descendants, endow programs invested in anti-racism advocacy, and provide support to elderly descendants throughout their lives. Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said that it was an honor for the University to contribute to these efforts.
In recent years, the university and the Jesuits have issued public apologies for the atrocities enacted upon the enslaved by the institution’s founding body. It is hoped that this commitment of $27 million is a crucial step in rectifying the injustice and is a step in the right direction towards seeking and supporting reconciliation for the future.
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