Only 58 Percent of Georgetown Students Voted on Slavery Reparations Proposal

Only 58 percent of Georgetown University students voted on the resolution that created a “slavery reparations” fund that will be tacked onto tuition costs.

In April, students at Georgetown University voted in favor of a referendum that sought to create a “reparations” fund for descendants of the 272 slaves that the university once owned. 66 percent of students voted in favor of the creation of the fund, while only 34 percent of students voted against the measure. But this isn’t the full picture.

The results of the referendum are as follows: 66.08% for yes (2541 votes), 33.92% for no (1304 votes). This means that the referendum passes.

— GUSA Elections (@GUSAElections) April 12, 2019

Some are pointing out now that only slightly more than half of the student body participated in the vote. A report from Intellectual Takeout argues that nearly 43 percent of the student body did not feel strongly enough about the referendum to vote.

In reality, 2,541 students voted for the reparations and 1304 against. Turnout was only 57.9 percent of the current student body. The proper understanding is that 66 percent of the 58 percent who voted approved reparations. The structure of the vote was a voluntary response, i.e., only students that feel passionate about the bill one way or the other would click on the link sent out to them.

This logically implies that most of those who didn’t vote likely did not feel passionately about the issue. By definition of the format chosen for voting, those who do not respond either are not in favor of reparations or at least do not feel strongly enough to vote in favor of them. The takeaway: Only 38 percent of the current student body actually supports the referendum enough to take the 30 seconds to vote in favor of it. However, the media used these results to claim that the university “overwhelmingly voted” for reparations. This is true in one sense, but at its intended core, it’s an exaggeration.

How might the outcome have changed if all of the students participated in the referendum vote? The answer to this question is unclear. University officials are now tasked with moving forward with the student’s recommendation, as established by the referendum. In a statement, university officials said that they have met with several descendants of the slaves once owned by the university.

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