The University of Richmond benefactor purportedly owned slaves in his time

The University of Richmond has removed the name of donor T.C. Williams
from its law school, citing student complaints that he allegedly owned
slaves more than 175 years ago.

The Williams family now wants the Virginia university to give back
donations they�ve made throughout the years, with interest, in the amount
of $3.6 billion.

Robert Smith, who graduated from the law school that formerly bore his
great-great-grandfather�s name, told The Epoch Times that if the family
name is no longer good enough for the university, neither are family�s
financial contributions.

Smith said in a Jan. 30 letter to university president Kevin Hallock that
he arrived at the $3.6 billion figure by adding together the contributions
from Williams, his sons, and other relatives, then calculating 150-plus
years of compounded returns.

�It might be worthwhile for you to require every woke activist to take a
course in finance to appreciate those for whom [sic] they want to cancel,�
Smith wrote in his January letter to Hallock.

Smith�founder of the legal and financial firm Chartwell Capital Advisors
in Richmond, Virginia�said the university has yet to respond to his demand
for a refund.

Erasing Slave Owners
The fight began during the 2021�2022 school year. The university formed a
commission of students, staff, faculty, alumni, and trustees that
recommended naming guidelines for buildings, programs, and professorships,
according to a Sept. 23, 2022, notice on the university�s website.

Many universities either renamed or removed statues of historical figures
after the death of George Floyd in 2020. Left-wing groups across the
country demanded racial justice and called for removal of historical
statues of priests, Christopher Columbus, and even Abraham Lincoln.

Critics contend that removing statues is part of a neo-Marxist cultural
revolution that seeks to portray the United States as a systemically
racist country founded on slavery. The movement�s ideology sometimes goes
by other names, including critical race theory (CRT); diversity, equity,
and inclusion; and progressivism.

These ideologies promote portraying history with a focus on racial
justice, as in the 1619 Project, an initiative by The New York Times and
The New York Times Magazine, which says its aim is �to reframe the
country�s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the
contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States�
national narrative.�

Proponents of CRT say America should not whitewash history and that white
Americans should repent by giving minorities preference in areas such as
hiring and college admittance to make up for acts of racism committed
throughout the country�s history.

Building a Case
According to the university�s notice, the rules on how to rename buildings
were adopted �after an extensive and inclusive process� with input from
7,500 university and community members.

The notice details the history of T.C. Williams Sr., born in 1831, who
operated tobacco businesses in Richmond and elsewhere in Virginia,
including Patterson & Williams and Thomas C. Williams & Co.

The university cited records from the 1860 U.S. Federal Census Slave
Schedule, which showed 35 enslaved men and boys under the name of
Patterson & Williams in the Richmond area.

The notice went on to say that personal property tax records showed
Williams�s businesses were taxed on 25 to 40 slaves. A newspaper account
placed by Thomas C. Williams & Co. advertised a reward for the return of
two company slaves, Todd and Alex, who escaped a Danville-area farm.

Williams attended the university, then named Richmond College, from 1846
to 1849. He served as a college trustee from 1881 until his death in 1889
and became a benefactor of the university, the notice said.

In 1890, the Williams family made a memorial gift of $25,000 to the
university, creating an endowment that established a strong foundation for
the law program�s development, the university statement reads.

Several of Williams�s children�one of whom succeeded him on the school�s
board of trustees and remained on the board until 1929�also provided
generous support to the university and the law school. And in 1920, when
Richmond College was re-chartered as the University of Richmond, the law
school began consistently using the name T.C. Williams School of Law,
according to the notice.

Smith originally calculated that the T.C. Williams Sr. contribution alone
would amount to $51 million with interest, which he outlined in an October
letter to Hallock.

�Because these woke people, they hate people like my family. They hate
people who are upright, religious, and who are wealthy,� Smith said,
comparing the case built against his ancestor to a mob-style
assassination. �I mean, they�re jealous.�

Smith, who maintains a �Rob is Right� Facebook page catering to
conservatives, has asked the university to provide documentation about the
research.

Officials haven�t responded, he said.

�One of the most basic tenets of our Judeo-Christian heritage is
gratitude, a concept that is apparently unknown to you and the Board of
the University of Richmond,� he wrote in his January missive to university
officials.

People should be able to have civil conversations about the history of the
United States, and that includes discussions on slavery, he said. But the
perspective of that era has been ignored, he added.

Smith said his family has given extensively to causes in Richmond and the
university for almost 200 years. The good his family has done is ignored
by those who want to �virtue signal,� he said.

�Give It All Back�
Jesse Williams, father of T.C. Williams, donated building materials to the
First Baptist Church, he said. The family patriarch also donated masonry
and other materials for the neighboring First African Baptist Church,
Smith wrote in his January letter.

Jesse Williams also contributed to the building needs of the University of
Richmond when its campus was started, he said.

It�s only right, Smith said, for the university to turn over its $3.3
billion endowment to Williams�s descendants. The remaining $300 million
owed should be secured with a note using the campus buildings as
collateral, he wrote.

�All your woke faculty� should pledge their assets to secure the loan, he
added.

�Since you and your activists went out of your way to discredit the
Williams name, and since presumably the Williams family�s money is
tainted, demonstrate your �virtue� and give it all back,� he wrote.

Smith said the family had not yet filed a lawsuit.

A Problematic History
The university takes issue with slave ownership but owned slaves in the
1840s, Smith said.

And the college was founded by a Baptist preacher but now embraces LGBT
culture, he said.

The University of Richmond did not respond to requests from The Epoch
Times for comment.

However, the university�s website noted it recognized �the role the
Williams family has played� and respected the �full and complete history
of the institution.�

The university could have changed the law school�s name without negatively
portraying his family�s legacy, said Stuart Smith, the nephew of Robert
Smith.

�It�s easy to take a plaque off a building and issue a press report,� he
said. �It�s easy to just nod your head and agree to do whatever your
student population, paying $77,000 a year, wants you to do.�

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