The Patriot Post Reports: In September 2022, the University of Richmond Board of Trustees voted to change the name of its law school from the T.C. Williams School of Law to the Richmond School of Law. It was discovered that the namesake, an alumni and generous benefactor of the university and a successful tobacco merchant, owned between two dozen and three dozen slaves during the antebellum period.
All this is in accordance with a UR policy passed last year that prohibits naming any campus building or program after a person who engaged in or advocated slavery. To be sure, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence in our times. But what’s unique is what happened next.
The Williams family, led by great-great grandson Robert C. Smith, have called upon the university to return their ancestor’s generous gift, which helped establish the law school, with interest. In a lengthy letter explaining their case, Smith writes that if his ancestor’s name “is not good enough for the university, then isn’t the proper ethical, and, indeed, virtuous action to return the benefactor’s money with interest?”
It’s a great question, isn’t it?
Comments
notwokeshows
from the old Disqus comment system
Feb 4, 2023
If they don't return it then it's overwhelmingly apparent that the name removal was merely an act of virtue signaling.