Black Students at the University of Maryland Are Calling for an Official Apology for the Institution’s Past Ties to Slavery

Last month JBHE reported that after a yearlong investigation by students in the history department, no “smoking gun” was found linking the University of Maryland to slavery. The research into the university’s past is difficult because a fire ravaged the College Park campus a century ago destroying many of the paper records of the university’s earliest days.

However, the report issued by the student researchers concluded that because slavery was so intrinsic to the state’s economy in those days, it can be presumed that slaves were involved in the construction of the University of Maryland.

As a result of the report, black students at the University of Maryland are now calling on the university to issue a formal apology for its alleged ties to slavery.