RALEIGH, N.C. — William Peace University is calling today a Day of Acknowledgment, referring to recent findings about the school's connection to racism, slavery and white supremacy. 

What You Need To Know

  • A task force at William Peace University looked into its history in search of connections to racism, slavery and white supremacy

  • A statue of William Peace, dedicated in 2007, has been removed from campus

  • 14 listening sessions to start next week will enable feedback from faculty, staff, students and alumni

In fall 2020, the university put together a task force for this reason, and the results were released on Tuesday. Now the top findings are on the history section of William Peace University's website.

The findings include:

  • The namesake of the university, William Peace, owned 51 slaves, according to 1860 census records
  • The school's Main Building was used for a Confederate hospital and as the Freedmen's Bureau
  • The school's yearbook, "The Lotus," at times included racial slurs and racially stereotypical content, and in 1946 was dedicated to Josephus Daniels, who was complicit in the Wilmington Massacre of 1898

A statue of Peace that was dedicated in 2007 was removed on Tuesday. President Brian Ralph says it was removed to prevent any divisiveness on campus.

Ralph became president in 2015. He says since being in the role, part of his strategic plan has been to create a more inclusive campus. That includes the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion he established in 2017. 

"Putting this information together was really an extension of our diversity, equity and inclusion work and wanting to make sure that we fully understood our past so that we can really work hard to be as inclusive as possible in the future," he said.

During the Day of Acknowledgment quiet spaces were set up on campus for faculty, staff and students to reflect.

Next, 14 listening sessions running from next week until the end of April will give people on campus and alumni a chance to give feedback on the updates to the school's history and suggestions on how to move forward.

Already, people have given input on social media on the decision to remove Peace's statue.

Sophomore Ashlynn Charles says Peace donated money to the university and should not be forgotten.

"The removal of the statue, and then possibly the changing of the name would make it so that future generations of students would not know who William Peace is, and therefore would not understand the history of the school," Charles said. "Then they would not be able to give the proper respect to the enslaved people that did help build."

The university has not said it will change its name, but officials anticipate the topic coming up during the listening sessions. This process will be led by a third-party consulting firm, The Diversity Movement, and the director of diversity, equity and inclusion on WPU's campus, Leah Young.