Yale issues formal apology over its past connections to slavery

Yale University formally apologized Friday for its past ties to slavery.

The Ivy League school has become the latest institution to apologize for its ties to slavery after years of investigation.

“Today, on behalf of Yale University, we recognize our university’s historical role in and connection to slavery, as well as the labor, experiences, and contributions of enslaved people to our university’s history, “We apologize for the ways in which Yale’s leaders have participated in slavery throughout our early history,” the school said in a statement. statement.

In Friday’s announcement, the university also announced the publication of “Yale and Slavery: A History,” written by Pulitzer Prize-winning professor David W. Bright in collaboration with Yale and the Slavery Research Project. . The school also shared the various initiatives and actions it will pursue based on the results of the school’s projects.

Some of the school’s early leaders and founders owned slaves, the release said. The school’s oldest campus building, Connecticut Hall, was constructed using “a portion of the labor of enslaved people.” The building is currently undergoing renovations.

“Although there is no known record that Yale owned enslaved people, many of Yale’s Puritan founders, as well as Yale’s early leaders and other prominent members of the university community, “The school owned enslaved people, and the research project identified more than 200 enslaved people. These enslaved people,” the school said in a statement Friday. “The majority of enslaved people identify as Black, but some identify as Indigenous.”

Yale University is one of many institutions around the world grappling with its relationship with slavery. A growing number of schools are issuing similar statements.

In 2022, another Ivy League school, Harvard University, pledged $100 million in endowment money to investigate its “pervasive entanglements with slavery.” Princeton University removed former Democratic President Woodrow Wilson’s name from its School of Public and International Affairs in 2020, saying his “racist views and policies make him inappropriate as a school name.” mentioned.