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Key Takeaways
- Georgetown University's Slavery Reconciliation Fund, launched in 2022, appears to be inactive after distributing $400,000 over two years but shows no current activity or updates on its website for future grant cycles.
- The fund was created to support projects benefiting the descendants of enslaved people on Jesuit plantations, yet it has awarded grants to only a limited number of recipients.
- Critics, including David Almasi, have questioned the purpose and accountability of the fund, suggesting Georgetown should provide clearer reports on how funds are allocated, especially given its status as a federal aid recipient.
Georgetown University’s Slavery Reconciliation Fund, launched in 2022, appears to have gone inactive after distributing just $400,000 over two years.
The fund launched after a 2019 student referendum with a goal of awarding up to “$400,000 per year to projects that engage communities of Descendants whose ancestors were enslaved on Jesuit plantations,” according to the fund’s website. Grants are awarded annually through an application process that begins in the fall, and both individuals and organizations are eligible to apply.
The College Fix reviewed the website and found a noticeable lack of current activity. There are no news releases or updates posted in the past year, and no information is available regarding a 2025-26 grant cycle, including application guidelines or timelines.
The most recent information shows the university awarded $200,000 to five recipients in 2023 and another $200,000 to seven community-based projects in 2024.
David Almasi, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research, questioned the goal of Georgetown’s reparations initiative in an interview with The Fix.
“I guess the question to them would be, what do they think they get out of it? Is paying these people reparations going to absolve any guilt that they have over this? What do they think that this proves?” he told The College Fix in an email.
“And I can sit on the sidelines, since I’m not a Georgetown student and I’m not an alumni, and I’m obviously not affiliated with the school in any way, but I just look at that and say, what do you think that this has done?” he said.
Almasi also said the university should be more transparent about how funds are being spent.
“As a school that receives federal dollars, which I assume they do, they owe a general report to the public that can see where their tax dollars are being reallocated,” he said.
He added that while private institutions can make their own decisions, donors should have access to information about how the school spends its money, as this transparency can and should influence future donations and grants.
“But ultimately, if someone privately wants to spend their money on things like this, that’s their right,” he said.
The Fix reached out to Georgetown via email asking if the fund is active and if it has plans for the current year. Despite a follow-up email, a voice message, and two calls a week later, the university did not respond.
The Fix also emailed Adam Rothman, founder of Georgetown’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies and a history professor, asking about the center’s accomplishments in the past year and its plans for the 2026-27 school year. Despite a follow-up call and a voice message a week later, Rothman did not comment.
Rothman joined filmmaker Bernie Cook in 2016 to develop “Since We Last Met,” a multi-film documentary project that highlights the experiences of over 272 descendants of enslaved people sold by Jesuits, known collectively as the “G272+ community,” according to the Center for the Study of Slavery’s website.
The project’s latest film, “You Barely See Us,” is scheduled for release this year. Key figures in the film include slave descendants such as Jessica Tilson, who is herself a descendant of Isaac Tilson, a G272+ member.
In 2022, Tilson told The Fix that members of her descendant community were unaware of how funds awarded through the university’s reconciliation efforts had been used.
She did not provide further comment despite a follow-up email, a phone call, and a voice message this month.
Georgetown University has taken several steps to confront its historical ties to slavery in recent years. In April 2017, the university issued an official apology for the 1838 sale of enslaved people, The College Fix previously reported.
Officials also renamed two buildings previously named after the Jesuits responsible for the sale, established a new African American Studies Department, and agreed to give descendants of the enslaved an admissions advantage.
