By Andrew Bosse
The Daily Princetonian
Reparations scholars may name Princeton in lawsuit
(U-WIRE) PRINCETON, NJ -- When John Witherspoon moved from Scotland in 1768 to assume the presidency of Princeton University, then known as the College of New Jersey, he brought his wife, a 300-book collection and an invigorating leadership style. At the time of his death in 1794, he had listed among his possessions another piece of property: two slaves, each worth $100.
Though slave ownership was legal at the time, a group of lawyers and academics may attempt to file a major reparations lawsuit against the University later this spring for its early ties to slavery. In addition to
Witherspoon, numerous trustees and antebellum-era graduates owned slaves.
In an article published Feb. 21, USA Today reported the Reparations Coordinating Committee -- which includes leading scholars and activist lawyers led by Randall Robinson and Harvard University Law School professor Charles Ogletree -- will file suit against major insurance, railroad and newspaper companies and universities with ties to slavery.
The universities named include Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Brown universities and University of Virginia. The committee, however, has maintained strict secrecy about the exact timing and nature of the lawsuit.
University spokeswoman Marilyn Marks and Peter McDonough, general counsel
for the University, said they knew nothing about the potential lawsuit.
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