On Saint Louis University’s Clock Tower steps last week, around 60 people lit blue candlesticks anointed with salt and oil. While shielding the flames from the cool breeze, they stood together for a historic moment of silence. 

“Our ancestors are being brought out of the darkness into the light,” said Robin Proudie, a descendant of people who were enslaved by Jesuits and forced to labor at SLU.

For years, Proudie and her family have worked to preserve their ancestor’s history and push SLU to make amends. The “Lights of Remembrance Candlelight Vigil” on Feb. 27 — the first university event to officially honor people they enslaved — marked a significant step in that reparative process, Proudie said. 

In March, SLU is also set to offer a formal apology to the descendants for its role in the institution of slavery, Proudie said. The university has not yet made the announcement. 

“Here we are now, finally, being brought inside,” Proudie said. “We’re being acknowledged by the [university] leadership.” 

The vigil was co-sponsored by Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved (DSLUE), Proudie’s advocacy group, Black Student Alliance (BSA), Student Government Association (SGA), Campus Ministry, Department of African American Studies and the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement (DICE). 

In a statement, Vice President of DICE Rochelle Smith said the university is “committed to supporting our SLU communities as we all engage in the process of truth, healing and reconciliation.”

The reconciliation process began in 2019 after Proudie’s family was informed by researchers from the Slavery, History, Memory and Reconciliation Project that they were descendants of over 50 people who were enslaved by the Jesuits at SLU. 

The joint research project between SLU and the Society of Jesus’ Central and Southern Province identified nearly 200 enslaved individuals whose forced labor helped build Jesuit missions and colleges in several states. 

After the monumental research, university officials and descendants discussed ways to honor the enslaved but the coronavirus pandemic stalled the collaboration. Then in 2021, Proudie and her family founded DSLUE to renew the reconciliation efforts. 

Initially, Proudie said SLU was slow to respond to the coalition, but after announcing the institution’s stolen labor is worth between $361 million and $74 billion last February, talks picked back up. 

Proudie also credits students for supporting DSLUE’s mission. In late April, the SGA unanimously passed a resolution calling on administrators to reconcile the university’s history of slavery and work with the descendants to make amends.   

The resolution brought much needed visibility to the descendants, said graduate student Sam Hall who was an SGA member at the time. Hall has been collaborating with DSLUE for a year to move the reparative process forward.

“As a student, I felt like it’s my duty,” Hall said. “This isn’t meant to bash SLU at all. It is because of our love of our university that we want to see reconciliation happen.”

Hall also works with Campus Ministry and co-organized the vigil, which she said was “a reclamation of truth and a step toward justice.” She emceed the ceremony and led a prayer. 

“Our Jesuit values inspire us to do the Examine where we sit and we reflect over how things have happened and how we can make them better,” Hall said. “This is us examining our own history and coming to terms with it, and also finding beauty in it, finding honor in it, celebrating it.”

Campus minister Rev. Jim Roach said the vigil marked an important first step in making amends. 

“It’s good to get a lament and a reckoning out in the open,” Roach said. “This is not the finish line, this is the first step in some ways.”

During the two-hour program at the Center for Global Citizenship, artist InnerGy recited poetry and composer Royce Martin played ragtime songs on the piano. One of the compositions, “Heliotrope Banquet,” was co-written by Louis Chauvin, a ragtime musician whose parents were enslaved by SLU. 

In brief remarks, Christopher Tinson, chair of the African American studies department, called on the audience to commit to examining the devastating history of slavery while also celebrating the stories of resilience. 

“We live in a day and time where the erasure of history is commonplace,” Tinson said. “As a nation we don’t want to look in the mirror; as an institution, we have trouble looking in the mirror.”

Students from the SGA and BSA read around 25 names of people formerly enslaved at the university who are direct ancestors to Proudie’s family. 

Senior Zaire Payton said reciting their names aloud was a meaningful way to acknowledge the forgotten people who helped establish the campus she walks through every day. 

“I think a part of reparation is awareness,” Payton said. “We are not just here studying, we are part of a bigger community.” 

After reading the names, several descendants also offered reflections about their ancestors and their contributions. 

“Every accomplishment I achieved, I do it knowing they [my ancestors] made it possible. That fills me with gratitude, but also with responsibility,” said descendant DoMarco Holley. “Because honoring them isn’t just looking back at what they went through. It’s about living in a way that makes them proud.”

Amid a national push against diversity, equity and inclusion programs, Proudie said she is pleased that SLU is engaging in the reparations process, but more still needs to be done. A working group of descendants has been meeting with university officials and the Board of Trustees to discuss other reconciliation steps, she said. 

After a public apology, the descendants say they want SLU to install a permanent monument on campus to honor the legacy of their ancestors. 

“We want to restore our name and our dignity, our bloodline and what was lost,” Proudie said. 

The University News’ Zekhra Gafurova contributed to this report.

This article has been edited to add that Robin Proudie’s family are descendants of over 50 people enslaved by Jesuits at Saint Louis University.