Georgetown University may become the first U.S. school to charge a fee to pay reparations to descendants of former slaves.

Roughly 3,845 university students voted in a referendum Thursday, with 66% in favor of paying reparations. Thirty-four percent voted against the measure.

With the passage of the referendum, Georgetown will increase tuition rates each semester by $27.20 to create a fund to benefit descendants of 272 slaves sold by the university to pay off debts it accumulated in 1838.

“There are many approaches that enable our community to respond to the legacies of slavery. The University has made a commitment to further our efforts in dialogue and partnership with the Descendant community, seeking to promote work that draws on the inherent strengths and expertise of our community in collaboration with the Descendant and Jesuit communities and that promotes racial justice,” Todd Olson, Georgetown University’s vice president for student affairs, said in a statement.

“Our students are contributing to an important national conversation and we share their commitment to addressing Georgetown’s history with slavery,” Olson added.

While the issue of reparations has been contentiously debated among politicians since the American Civil War, the issue gained new momentum in the run up to the 2020 presidential election, with multiple Democratic candidates weighing in on the topic.

“I believe it’s time to start the national full-blown conversation about reparations in this country,” presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren told a CNN town hall meeting last month. (Anadolu Agency)

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