The newly elected Faculty Senate approved a resolution Tuesday apologizing to the descendants of slaves on campus, less than a week after UA President Robert Witt announced several steps UA administration will take to recognize the University's role in slavery.
The resolution passed 36-1 with two abstentions, and an amendment thanking Witt for his stance on diversity issues Thursday was added to the resolution.
After law professor Al Brophy introduced the resolution to the Senate a few weeks ago, the issue has been a hot topic that has garnered state and national media attention.
Nick Stinnet, co-chairman of the faculty life committee, said there are "a lot of emotions that surround the resolution on both sides of the issue.
"This resolution comes to you in the spirit of a family, and a great wrong was committed to members of our family," he said. "This resolution is intended to help heal wounds of the hurt, and it is about moving on to better relations with each other."
Stinnet said the resolution is not a "guilt trip," but it is about "recognizing the contribution of slaves to the campus."
Brophy said the apology was necessary because the faculty benefited from the work of slaves, they were charged with disciplining slaves, and several faculty members taught pro-slavery ideology.
"We are successors to the faculty who committed these acts," he said. "This resolution can help us make a break with the past and look forward to the future."'
The one Senate member who voted against the resolution left immediately after the meeting and could not be identified by The Crimson White.
Marvin Johnson, a former Senate member who attended the meeting, said he is opposed to the apology because "the University of today is not the University of the past." He said if the University stops to apologize to every group of people, then "we will be apologizing perpetually."
"To apologize is to accept responsibility for slavery," he said. "No one can accept the responsibility for slavery. This is an invitation to self-incrimination."
Faculty Senate President John Mason said he was glad no one was able to take the "teeth" out of the resolution by eliminating the last item in it, which calls for the University to atone for the history of slavery on campus and "memorialize the contributions of slaves to the campus in some prominent fashion."
"I am very happy that we did not end the resolution just thanking Witt," he said. "I am glad we left the last 'be it further resolved' in there."
Wythe Holt, co-chairman of the faculty life committee, said he was satisfied the resolution passed and glad the discussions about the resolution proceeded in a "calm and non-incriminatory way."
However Holt said he believes more could have been done with the resolution to apologize to blacks.
"We could have emphasized that slavery is oppression, and we could have emphasized that it is uncivilized," he said. "It also could have incorporated explicit appreciations for what the president has chosen to do."
Pat Bauch, chairwoman of the UA Coalition for Diversity and Inclusiveness, said she thinks the resolution is a historic move by the University in recognizing the past.
"This resolution will help to change the image this institution has as a place still living in the past," she said. "This image will change as we move forward to become a more inclusive community."
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