Universities Studying Slavery (USS) Welcomes Furman University!

We are very excited to announce that Furman University has joined Universities Studying Slavery (USS), bringing the total number of schools participating to 26. This list includes schools in both the United States and Canada. In the United States, schools from New Jersey to Mississippi have joined and have active programs of acknowledgement and atonement underway.

Furman University is located in Greenville, South Carolina (where it moved in 1851), and was originally founded in Edgefield, in 1826. It is the oldest private university in the state. The school is named for Richard Furman, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in the first half of the nineteenth century. Read a 2016 student editorial, “Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation: What is the Furman Legacy?” For more on the history of Furman University, click here.

Again, we are excited that Furman President Elizabeth Davis and Provost George Shields have formed their Task Force on Slavery & Justice. The task force is chaired by Associate Professor of Communication Studies Brandon Inabinet, who spearheaded the initial conversations that led to this effort.

Welcome aboard, Furman University! Please plan on attending our October 18-21, 2017, symposium here at UVA. Furman University will have a panel presentation on their work!