Glasgow Uni will spend £20m repaying benefits gained from the slave trade

Glasgow University has agreed to raise and spend £20 million in reparations, after it was revealed the university was founded using millions of pounds made in the slave trade.

The university is said to be the first institution in the UK to implement a strategy of giving back on such a great scale.

Over the next 20 years, the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research will be established. It is to be co-located between the two countries and aims to both raise awareness about the impact of the slave trade and fund research into its history.

Last year, Glasgow University carried out a study into how it benefitted from the slave trade. Although the university never enslaved people, research proved that it received substantial financial aid from the trade.

This consequential research will be carried out in partnership with the University of the West Indies.

Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, told the BBC the university's decision to make reparations was a "bold, moral, historic step" in recognising the slavery aspect of its past.

Glasgow University's current campus was built from donations, and it has since been found that 23 of the donors had some financial links to the New World slave trade.

In light of Glasgow University's discovery, many other universities across the UK have looked into their own links with the slave trade. These include Cambridge University, Bristol University and The University of East London.

Dr Stephen Mullen, co-author of last year's report, told the BBC: "I don't think I was expecting the global reaction but I knew it was an important, landmark piece of work."

Featured image via Instagram: (@uofglasgow)

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