The University is the only school in the United States that has ever purchased a slave, according to fourth-year Engineering student Justin Steele said.
Steele came across this fact and many others while researching the history of African American students at the University.
He will be presenting his findings with fellow fourth-year Engineering student Ermias Abebe on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Minor Hall Auditorium in a program called "Connecting Communities: A Look at Current Race Relations through the Lens of Black History at the University of Virginia."
Steele said he was motivated by a history of poor race relations at the University to create the program the summer prior to his third year. He then began researching with Abebe, primarily using old editions of The Cavalier Daily and Corks and Curls.
"The research was challenging because no one has ever put something like this together," Steele said. "The premise is to look at black history in the community."
He said the program will focus on slavery, segregation, stereotypes and student activism, and it will continue with a program on black leadership Wednesday, Sept. 10.
Steele said he hopes to relate black history at the University to current race relations.
"There is always at least one racial incident at the University each year," he said. "We're not facing any problems we haven't faced before."
Additionally, he said that he and Abebe plan to include details such as the profiles of several of the 32 slaves who built the University to add a personal element to the presentation.
Steele said he discovered many surprising and interesting facts when researching for the program.
For example, he said he found a picture of the University Glee Club participating in a minstrel show on the steps of the Rotunda in the 1914 edition of Corks and Curls. He plans to relate this incident to last year's blackface occurrence.
Steele said that the program, which was first presented in September 2002, continues to evolve as the University changes. He said the program's initial presentation was attended almost solely by African American students, but a later presentation during Black History Month attracted students of all backgrounds at an Oct. 31 Halloween party..
African-American Affairs Dean M. Rick Turner said the program is open to all students, faculty and staff regardless of racial background, although it is targeted primarily at first years.
Steele said the deans in the Office of African-American Affairs, especially Associate Dean Sylvia Terry, have been helpful in promoting the program.
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