Universities Studying Slavery Consortium

Over the past decade, U.S. colleges and universities have begun paying greater attention to the historical role of slavery at their institutions. 

The Universities Studying Slavery (USS) consortium, created and led by the University of Virginia, represents a multi-institutional collaboration focused in sharing best practices and guiding principles about truth-telling projects addressing human bondage and racism in institutional histories. Member schools are all committed to research, acknowledgment, and atonement regarding institutional ties to the slave trade, to enslavement on campus or abroad, and to enduring racism in school history and practice.

USS additionally allows participating institutions to work together as they address both historical and contemporary issues dealing with race and inequality in higher education and in university communities.  Together, the growing movement of schools committed to this work seek to address the complicated legacies of slavery in the modern world.

Member institutions also work together on developing ways for individual institutions to commit school resources to addressing equity in the twenty-first century.

Finally, USS hosts semi-annual meetings to discuss strategies, collaborate on research, and learn from one another.

Current Member Institutions:

Appalachian State University
Athens State University
Bard College
Community College of Baltimore County
Dalhousie University (Canada)
Davidson College
Dickinson College
Elon University
Emory University
Goucher College
Guilford College
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampton University
Harvard University
Hollins University
James Madison University
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Johns Hopkins University
Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom)
Longwood University
McGill University (Canada)
Mercer University
Meredith College
Morgan State University
Norfolk State University
Princeton Theological Seminary
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Southern University Law Center
Stillman College
Sweet Briar College
Towson University
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity University (Texas)
University of Bristol (United Kingdom)
University College Cork (Ireland)
University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
University of Cincinnati
University of Manchester (United Kingdom)
University of Maryland
University of Mississippi
Vanderbilt University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Military Institute
Virginia State University
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest University
Washington & Lee University
Washington University in St. Louis
Wesleyan College (Georgia)
Wofford College
Xavier University
Yale University

If your institution is interested in joining the conversation, please contact Ashley Schmidt, Ph.D., at aks8rn@virginia.edu.

The Birth of Universities Studying Slavery

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