U. of Richmond Removes Benefactor’s Name From Law School For “Slavery” Allegations; Family Demands Refund

In today’s cancel-culture news, I give you the progressive jackholes at the University of Richmond, where self-professed do-gooders decided that they would look into the background of T.C. Williams, an early benefactor, and decide amongst themselves if he was a good or bad dude – you know, AFTER they took a gigantic sum of money from him to build themselves a law school.

Turns out, they believe that T.C. Williams’ ancestors ALLEGEDLY owned slaves in the 19th century, so a bunch of folks at the university took it upon themselves to change the name of said law school that was once named after the dude who was responsible for funding it. NBD, right?

Wrong.

According to The College Fix:

In a statement provided Tuesday to The College Fix, spokesperson Cynthia Price said the University of Richmond board voted unanimously in the fall of 2022 “to change the official name of the law school from the T.C. Williams School of Law to the University of Richmond School of Law.”

“The law school has been referred to as the University of Richmond School of Law for more than 20 years,” Price said.

The University of Richmond reserves the right to remove the name of a person who directly engaged in the trafficking or enslavement of others or someone who openly advocated for the enslavement of people, according to its naming guidelines.

Hallock, in a September 2022 email to the university community, stated that “Recently located government records dating from 1857 to 1863, and a newspaper notice from 1864, document Williams’s involvement in enslavement as an individual and through businesses in which he had direct ownership and an active management role.”

“… Personal property tax records from several Virginia localities that show Williams’s businesses being taxed on 25 to 40 enslaved persons in those years,” he wrote.

The thing is, his family denies this. They believe this decision has been made on “erroneous grounds.” They also want to set the story straight about their ancestor:

“…..is it not a form of fraud to induce money from a benefactor, and then discredit the benefactor after he is long dead? Surely, the Williams family would not have given a penny to the University knowing that the University would later dishonor the family. The ethical and virtuous decision is clear. Return the money.”

I agree 100% with this. Was the university thinking that this guy’s family was just going to roll over and allow this to happen? Because this family is speaking out. And they’re attempting to fight back – to no avail. The university is basically ignoring them. It seems as if the university – an educational institution, mind you – doesn’t want to be educated about the very man who funded their law school. Interesting, isn’t it?

Walter Smith, one of T.C. Williams’ descendants, wrote this about him:

“Perhaps true academics could recognize that the achievements of people like T.C. Williams contributed to the demise of slavery and created a bold economic and social order that gave men the opportunity to make a living for themselves and the human dignity derived from such efforts?” he wrote in his letter to President Hallock

“Against all odds, T.C. Williams amassed a great fortune,” Smith continued. “He may have been the wealthiest man in Virginia at his death. And what did he do with his wealth? He hired thousands of workers, many were blacks and women. Productive work and industry is the only thing that lifts people out of poverty. The Williams family gave away all of their immense wealth, most of it was anonymous and there were substantial inter-vivos gifts. Many Richmond institutions are the result of their goodwill and generosity.”

And my absolute FAVORITE thing written in the entire article (this was from Rob Smith, another descendant, who I would love to high-five)?

“The University itself participated in slavery! Using your Orwellian logic, then shouldn’t the University have to change its name? … Using your T.C. Williams logic, then don’t you have to resign since you preside over a school that participated in slavery,” Smith wrote.

“Since all history has to be erased, perhaps you can eliminate the history department and use the money to buy therapy dogs, cupcakes and cotton candy for all those poor souls triggered by facts. Then again, you could use the money to bolster your Campus Ministry of Truth and just eliminate facts. After all, facts are bad, they make snowflakes cry.”

OH SNAP. I’m #TEAMFAMILY all the way. I hope these folks get every single penny back and more – just for dragging their descendant through the mud like this. Screw this university. Screw these progressive, cancel-happy jackholes. This garbage has to stop.