ST. LOUIS – St. Louis University was set to apologize for enslaving people. Hours before the ceremony, a group of descendants of Black people the school enslaved backed out, citing concerns that the yearslong reconciliation process ultimately felt too symbolic.
“We had no choice but to not participate in this today,” said Robin Proudie, executive director and founder of Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved, at a briefing Wednesday.
Proudie’s voice broke while delivering her remarks to reporters.
“For five years we have done everything they have asked us to do,” she said, “but what we will not do is become a photo opp so they can parade us around and act like we are in alignment with what they are doing.”
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Proudie is descended from Henrietta Mills, who was enslaved by the Jesuits in St. Louis some 165 years ago. She was hopeful after years of collaborating with the university on what repair and reconciliation would look like. She told PBS News that the descendants pulled out after learning that the board approved an approach to move forward that completely took reparations off of the table. The school, Proudie said, planned to commit to an apology, a monument, and a report.
“If this is about mutual respect, then we want to be treated as such,” she added.
St. Louis University spokesperson Clayton Berry confirmed to PBS News that a prayer service scheduled for the formal apology was postponed after the descendants group said they were not participating in the event.
A statement from university President Fred P. Pastello was taped to the door of the St. Francis Xavier College Church on campus where the event was supposed to take place, saying the event was postponed. However, the university did not comment further on the postponed apology or whether reparations were still part of the conversation.
“In a number of forthright and challenging conversations this week, it became clear that we need to continue the work of building relationships with descendants before we are ready to proceed with a formal event,” the statement read in part.
A letter signed by St. Louis University President Fred P. Pestello is taped to the door of a church on Mar. 26, 2025. Photo by Gabrielle Hays/PBS News
The university is one of several nationwide institutions that have been pushed by various advocacy groups and community leaders to engage in reconciliation efforts after their ties to slavery came to light. St. Louis University’s history with slavery gained more attention in 2016 after The New York Times spotlighted Georgetown University’s 1838 sale of 272 enslaved people to keep the school afloat. Those who were brought to St. Louis are the descendants of those enslaved in Georgetown.
The Society of Jesuits relied on enslaved labor around the world since its founding in 1540. That included in the United States until 1865, when slavery was abolished. During that time, the faith-based group used enslaved Black people to support their churches and schools in states like Missouri, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Illinois and Kansas. Saint Louis University, along with Georgetown University and Spring Hill College, relied directly upon enslaved labor.
Proudie has for years turned to family documents to weave together her family’s history.
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Kelly Schmidt, a postdoctoral research associate at Washington University, found in 2021 that the number of people the Jesuits enslaved in St. Louis over time was at least 70 people.
The push for the university to acknowledge this history also saw support from students across campus.
The school’s student government passed a resolution in 2024 asking the university to outline an action plan. In a letter to DSLUE, St. Louis County NAACP president Adolphus M. Pruitt II threw support behind the growing call for the university and the Society of Jesuits to “further acknowledge the harm that was inflicted upon these individuals and their descendants as a foundation for reconciliation and healing.”
On the steps of the church where the apology was set to take place Areva Martin, lead counsel for DSLUE, called on St. Louis University to act.
“This is your opportunity to step up,” she said.
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