A long-awaited moment of reconciliation between Saint Louis University (SLU) and the descendants of enslaved Black people who built and sustained the institution has taken an unexpected turn. Several descendants abruptly withdrew their participation just days before a planned ceremony, citing concerns over the university’s sincerity and transparency, according to St. Louis NPR. 

The withdrawal threatens to derail SLU’s efforts to publicly reckon with its ties to slavery—a move the Jesuit university had billed as a pivotal step toward healing and accountability. Descendants say the apology felt more symbolic than substantive, with unresolved issues around reparative justice and the inclusion of descendant voices in decision-making. The fallout reflects broader tensions in institutions confronting historical wrongs, especially when public gestures fall short of meaningful change. 

The outlet reports that in February 2024, the descendants claimed the school owed them $74 billion for their ancestors’ unpaid labor and tasked SLU with paying the sum to make reparative good on the efforts. The University eventually agreed to a public apology, but now the descendants are saying it doesn’t seem right. 

“For five years, we have done everything they asked us to do … but what we will not do is become a photo op so they can go and parade us around and act like we are in alignment with what they are doing,” said Robin Proudie, executive director of Descendants of the St. Louis University Enslaved per NPR. “We want them to engage with us in a sincere manner, and we didn't feel that this apology was really about us.”

Days before the apology ceremony, which was scheduled for April 2, Proudie pointed out that the university didn’t say anything about the reparative funds. 

“We asked them, ‘What were they going to do?’ They told us a monument, a public apology and a report, and that wasn't in conjunction with what we all talked about,” Proudie said. “A core element of that was a way to repair in terms of financial or economic empowerment, and they told us that was totally off the table.” 

According to a letter taped to the doors of St. Francis Xavier College Church, where the ceremony was to take place, SLU President Fred Pestello said the prayer service was postponed. 

“This postponement does not signal an end to our engagement with reconciliation efforts,” Pestello said. “We remain hopeful for the future.” 

“It made me feel like they don't see us, they don't care about us, the same way they did when they enslaved our ancestors,” said Eric Proudie, the great-great-great-great-grandson of Mills Chauvin, per NPR. “How can you enslave a person? You have no compassion, no understanding. You don't recognize them as a person, and that's how they made me feel when they did this.”