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Since 1920 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

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Prominent National Leaders Honor Late Prof. Madeleine Albright

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William Gaston, Georgetown’s first student and namesake of Gaston Hall, held far more enslaved people than was previously thought, according to archival research by a Georgetown professor.

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New Gaston Slavery Ties Uncovered

Secretary Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Adora Zheng Clinton (SFS ’68) spoke about the late Madeleine and Eli Kales Albright, former Secretary of State and professor. Senior News Editors

Adora Zheng

Senior News Editor

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) reflected on the accomplishments of the late Secretary of State and Georgetown professor Madeleine Albright at a symposium held in her honor. The Clintons joined moderator Melanne Verveer, the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, to celebrate Albright’s life of public service and her commitment to her students at the final speaker event of the Sept. 29 symposium, which featured a morning session and a slate of speaker events in the afternoon session. President Clinton said in

his final conversation with Albright just weeks before her death, she said she didn’t want to waste time discussing her health — she wanted to talk about Ukraine. “I’ll never forget it. It was an amazing conversation, it was so vintage Madeleine,” former President Clinton said at the event. “She was just a really smart woman that couldn’t imagine why you waste the last few weeks of your life on reminiscences or regrets when you’d had the life she’d had and there was so much still to do.” Secretary Clinton spoke on Albright’s personability and unique ability to connect with others. “Madeleine really had a See ALBRIGHT, A6

illiam Gaston, after whom the historic Gaston Hall in Healy Hall is named, owned 163 enslaved people and supported judicial opinions that opposed equal citizenship for Black people, according to newly released research obtained by The Hoya that was conducted by a Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) professor. Previous accounts of Gaston’s slaveholding painted an unduly progressive picture of his legal stances on slavery, stating he only owned up to 40 enslaved people, according to a letter sent to University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) by John Mikhail, a Carroll Professor of Jurisprudence at GULC. Gaston was Georgetown’s first

student and also helped secure the university’s federal charter. Mikhail found an estate inventory that listed the names and ages of 163 enslaved individuals, including 21 children under five years of age, whom Gaston owned at the time of his death, when researching on Ancestry.com, where he had gone to find tax and census records on Gaston. Mikhail’s research also suggests Gaston may have enslaved up to 26 families spanning three or more generations. In the letter, Mikhail said uncovering the truth about Gaston’s ties to slaveholding is an important step in seeking to raise awareness about the enslaved individuals connected to Georgetown’s legacy and their families. “Of course, these children and their siblings, parents, and grandparents were not num-

Students Fundraise for Pakistan Following Catastrophic Flooding Lietta Ioannou Special to The Hoya

Georgetown University students have raised over $4,000 for Pakistanis who were displaced by severe flooding that has left one-third of the country underwater. The Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the South Asian Society (SAS) cosponsored an open-mic event

in the Healey Family Student Center (HFSC) Social Room on Sept. 22 to raise money to provide aid for those affected by the floods. All the funds raised from the event were donated to Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD), a humanitarian organization working on-site in Pakistan to provide food, clean water, temporary shelter and more to those dis-

placed by the flooding. MSA President Manahal Fazal (SFS ’24) said this catastrophe is only the beginning of the disastrous effects of climate change playing out in Pakistan. “Pakistan has experienced floods in the past; however, these floods have been far more severe than anything the county has seen,” Fazal wrote to The Hoya. “Another

bers. Each one had a name, a story, and people who loved them,” Mikhail wrote in the letter. “In all likelihood, many of them had descendants, some of whom are alive today.” Mikhail’s archival research also reveals that while Gaston was a judge on the Supreme Court of North Carolina, he ruled that Black people, including former enslaved people, were state citizens in North Carolina v. Manuel. He, however, upheld a state law that favored racial descrimination and white supremacy, rejecting the concept of equal citizenship under the law for Black people. Later in North Carolina v. Will, Gaston ruled that an enslaved person’s use of self-defensive force against their overseer was almost always unlawful. Upon uncovering this information, Mikhail said he felt it was important to share that Gaston was a much more sig-

nificant slaveholder than had previously been understood. “I started to realize that there was more and different information here than people were aware of,” Mikhail told The Hoya. “It motivated me to get as accurate a picture as I could and then share it with people because I thought it might raise awareness and change the conversation around Gaston.” In collaboration with other faculty members and students, Mikhail has spent the past six years researching Gaston. Beyond Gaston’s connections to political and legal history in the United States, Mikhail said he was inspired to learn more about Gaston following the publication of the 2016 report by the Working Group on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation. Mikhail said his research See GASTON, A6

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critical point to keep in mind is that Pakistan has the most glaciers outside of the north and south poles. We are already seeing the results of climate change, and at the scale it is going right now, it will only get worse.” According to a Sept. 21 report by UNICEF, approximately 33 million people, including 16 See PAKISTAN, A6

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THE RED CROSS

Students from the South Asian Student Associaion and the Muslim Student Associaion raised over $4,000 for Pakistanis displaced by severe flooding in the country.

Photo of the Week: The National Cathedral looms over Cathedral Heights on a gloomy September day.

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Mahsa Amini

Increase Facilities Staff

I’m Worrying Darling

Water Polo Prevails

Women’s club water polo started its second official season with its first-ever defeat of the University of Virginia. A12

Students held a vigil honoring Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who was killed for improperly wearing a hijab.

The Editorial Board calls on the university to hire more facilities staff in response to complaints of untimely work order fixes.

“Don’t Worry Darling” falls flat, despite drama with its A-list cast, including Florence Pugh and Harry Styles.

Animals Galore

Sponsor All Proficiency Tests

Babel Shines

Men’s Soccer Bounces Back

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The National Zoo welcomed 19 new species, including a Komodo dragon, collared brown lemur and Pallas’ cat.

Anaya Mehta (COL ’25) urges the university to pay for proficiency tests for languages not currently offered.

Rebecca F. Kuang’s (SFS ’18) newest novel, “Babel,” delights readers with a beautiful setting and an expert critique of colonialism.

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Men’s soccer broke its three-game losing streak after closely defeating the Creighton University Bluejays on Sept. 24.

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