At Brown, an Unusual Memorial

At Brown University, the 10-member Commission on Memorials has recommended that the university commission a memorial recognizing a painful past -- the university's ties to slave trading. In 2006, Brown released a report on this subject, and the commission now aims to involve the broader public in a discussion of the institution's early history and its meaning. Other actions taken in response to the report include attempts to improve local public education through a new Urban Education Fellows Program, which forgives tuition for graduate students who serve in Providence-area schools for at least three years.