In early March of 2020, Queens University of Charlotte President Daniel Lugo commissioned a task force consisting of faculty, staff, students, and alumni to examine and report on the university’s historical relationship to slavery and its legacies.
The Queens Task Force on the History of Slavery and its Legacies' charge was as follows:
How we understand, share, and represent the history of Queens is essential to our ability to live out its institutional values. This taskforce is charged with examining and reporting on the university’s historical relationship with slavery and its legacies. In undertaking its critical task, the group will:
- familiarize itself with the best practices of the Universities Studying Slavery Consortium
- develop a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which the Queens has been connected with slavery
- make recommendations for how the university can best share its fully recovered history with internal and external constituencies
- engage the experience and expertise of members of the campus community as needed
- provide updates on their work to the campus community
- submit a report of taskforce findings and recommendations to the President by September 30, 2020
Though the COVID-19 pandemic altered the anticipated timeframe and mode for the group to begin and complete its work, in early 2021, the group compiled its final report, which summarizes the Taskforce’s approach to its task, its key areas of focus and action, and its recommendations to university leadership.
Read the Taskforce's full report here
At the recommendation of the Taskforce, Queens University of Charlotte has elected to join the Universities Studying Slavery Consortium, which is a multi-institutional collaboration led by the University of Virginia. Member schools collaborate to address historical and contemporary issues of race and inequality in higher education.