Universities Studying Slavery

Universities Studying Slavery (USS) is a consortium of over one hundred institutions of higher learning in the United States, Canada, Colombia, Scotland, Ireland, and England. These schools are focused on sharing best practices and guiding principles as they engage in truth-telling educational projects focused on human bondage and the legacies of racism in their histories.

This collective was created by the University of Virginia President’s Commission on Slavery and the University (PCSU) both to ensure that UVA’s important work would spread beyond Virginia and to respond to the calls for guidance from other schools. Since 2016, UVA has boldly led this growing movement, positioning the university as an internationally recognized center of educational leadership and excellence in the field.

Member schools are all committed to research, acknowledgment, education, 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 has a broad vision for international, multi-institutional collaboration: 

• Mentor and educate schools embarking on projects coming to terms with difficult history.

• Educate generations of university students and a global public in innovative ways about the legacies of slavery and racism as historically significant shapers of the modern world.

• Promote collaboration among institutions examining histories of slavery and racism.

• Promote reconciliation practices as institutions seek to move beyond acknowledgement and atonement to working towards equity in the present.

• Create and sustain multi-university collaborations addressing systemic reconciliation and repair.

USS hosts semi-annual free and public conferences to discuss strategies, collaborate on research, and learn from one another.

Current Member Institutions:

Abilene Christian University
Allegany College of Maryland (ACM)
Amherst College
Appalachian State University
Athens State University
Bard College
Brown University (Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice)
Bryn Mawr College
Centre College
The Citadel (South Carolina)
Clemson University
College of Charleston
College of William & Mary (Lemon Project)
Columbia University
Community College of Baltimore County
Dalhousie University (Canada)
Davidson College
Dickinson College
Elon University
Emory University
Francis Marion University
Franklin & Marshall College
Furman University
Georgetown University
George Mason 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
LaGrange College
Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom)
Longwood University
Loomis Chaffee School
Louisiana State University
Loyola University Maryland
Mars Hill University
McGill University (Canada)
Mercer University
Meredith College
Morgan State University
Norfolk State University
Phillips Academy
Princeton Theological Seminary
Queens University (North Carolina)
Randolph-Macon College
Rice University
Roanoke College
Rutgers University Scarlet & Black Project
Saint Louis University
Salem Academy and College
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Southern University Law Center
Southwestern University
Stillman College
Sweet Briar College
Texas Christian University
Tougaloo College
Towson University
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity University (Texas)
Tufts University
Tulane University
Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)
University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom)
University of Alabama
University of Bristol (United Kingdom)
University College Cork (Ireland)
University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
University of Cincinnati
University of Delaware
University of Durham (United Kingdom)
University of Georgia
University of Glasgow
University of King’s College (Canada)
University of Liverpool
University of Manchester (United Kingdom)
University of Maryland
University of Mississippi
University of New Brunswick (Canada)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Nottingham (United Kingdom)
University of Pennsylvania
University of Richmond
University of South Carolina
University of the South (Sewanee)
University of Virginia (PCSU)

University of Warwick
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)
Western Kentucky University
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

The Birth of a Movement

To learn more about the many schools that have joined Universities Studying Slavery, please click on the “News” link above. You can find each announcement story in chronological order there.


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