A historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Wednesday by the Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and a senior official of the University of Glasgow (UoG) for “reparatory justice” related to the slave trade.
A release yesterday from UWI said that the MoU was signed at a ceremony held at The UWI Regional Headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica.
The document, framed as a “Repara-tory Justice” initiative, acknowledges that while the University of Glasgow supported efforts to abolish the trade in enslaved Africans and to end slavery, it also “received significant financial support from people whose wealth was derived from African enslavement”. The release said that the evidence of this history of financial accrual from enslavement, particularly in the Caribbean context, was presented by a research team commissioned by the University’s Vice-Chancel-lor, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli.
“The two universities have agreed to partner in a reparations strategy that focuses on how best to use this historical knowledge in order to fashion reparatory justice tools and research for Caribbean development. Acknowledging that universities have a duty to be at once excellent and ethical, the MoU will enable the University of Glasgow to make specific and general contributions to Caribbean problem-solving development”, the release said.
Under the terms of the MoU the two universities have agreed to set up the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Develop-ment Research. The Centre, through policy research, will address the legacies of slavery and colonialism, such as persistent poverty and extreme inequality in economic relations.
Over the next two decades, the release said that UoG commits to spending £20 million as part of its programme of reparative justice, including seed funding, benefactions and research grant income raised from grant-giving bodies. The Scottish university will also allocate resources to support the running of the Centre, scholarships, research, public engagement, and related initiatives. UoG and The UWI will also work together to source external funding for mutually agreed projects.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Sir Hilary said that he “was proud of the decision of the University of Glasgow to take this bold, moral, historic step in recognizing the slavery aspect of its past and to rise as an advocate of reparatory justice, and an example of 21st century university enlightenment.”
Signing the MoU on behalf of the University of Glasgow was Dr. David Duncan, Chief Operating Officer, and University Secretary. He said, “This is a historic and profoundly momentous occasion for both the University of Glasgow and The University of the West Indies. When we commissioned our year-long study into the links the University of Glasgow had with historical slavery we were conscious both of the proud part that Glasgow played in the abolitionist movement and an awareness that we would have benefitted, albeit indirectly from that appalling and heinous trade. From the very first we determined to be open, honest and transparent with the findings, and to produce a programme of reparative justice. In this, we were greatly assisted by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies who was one of our external advisors. I am delighted that as a result of the report we are now able to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Glasgow and The UWI and I look forward to the many collaborative ventures that we will jointly undertake in future.”
