Photo by ehpien.

Georgetown University will rename two buildings bearing the names of former presidents involved in the selling of slaves in the 1800s, University President John J. DeGioia announced on Saturday evening. The notice came in a letter emailed to the university community, one day after students organized a sit-in outside of the president’s office.

Temporarily, Mulledy Hall will be named Freedom Hall, and McSherry Hall will be called Remembrance Hall.

In the letter, President DeGioia said the decision was based on a recommendation by a working group. The university formed the group in September to make recommendations on how best to acknowledge and recognize the university’s historical ties to slavery, “examine and interpret the history of certain sites on our campus; and convene events and opportunities for dialogue,” DeGioia said.

Originally, there was only one black student on the committee, a student spokesperson told DCist on Friday, over an email address shared by organizers. But “after noise was brought,” the university added two more students of color to the committee.

President DeGioia also mentioned having met with “a group of students who gathered in the President’s Office,” Friday morning, who “shared their opinions of the importance” of the name changes.

In their letter to the president, the working group also referenced a suggestion by the university’s Black Leadership Forum and other students. “Their words are shaped by a thoughtfulness, a passion, and a spirit of constructive engagement that we appreciate deeply and hope will sustain us through the course of this important and painful conversation about our history and its legacy,” the working group’s letter stated.

It also shared a series of next steps that will help the group figure out “the full extent of Georgetown’s unjust enrichment at the expense of the enslaved.” Both buildings will be renamed permanently by the end of the academic year, according to the working group.

This comes amid a series of events where students have rallied to fight racial injustices at the University of Missouri, and other college campuses across the country.