Yale University has agreed to honor two Black men who attended the university nearly 200 years ago with posthumous degrees.
Rev. James W.C. Pennington, the first known Black man to attend Yale, was born enslaved and escaped from Maryland in 1828. From 1834 to 1837, he studied. In 1840, Rev. Alexander Crummell spent a year at the institution. Because they were Black, neither man was allowed to formally register for classes, participate in classroom discussions, or access library resources at the Ivy League institution where they studied theology.
“Although we cannot return to Pennington and Crummell the access and privileges they were denied when they studied at Yale, we recognize their work and honor their legacies by conferring on them these M.A. Privatim degrees,” Yale President Peter Salovey said, according to the New Haven Register.
Salovey continued, “With these honorary degrees, we aim to extend the remembrance of Pennington; to broaden the understanding and commemoration of Crummell; and to inscribe, for perpetuity, their names in the official records of the university.”
The decision comes after years of ignored petitions and open letters from the institution; however, the Pennington Legacy Group, a student group dedicated to seeing the degrees through, deserves credit. Noah Humphrey, the group’s founder, believes the departure from the university is long overdue.
“We are still not done, but this means that we have set a foundation that is forever,” he said, according to the report. “I mean, the fact that we have some of the brightest scholars in the world, but we couldn’t come to an agreement on giving the first Black student their rightful degree is insane.” Humphrey, and the Pennington Legacy Group, aim to continue their efforts of having Yale correct their injustices.
Yale will hold a ceremony to honor Pennington and Crummell this fall.