WASHINGTON – Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US, Sir Ronald Sanders, has written to the President of Harvard University on the institution honouring its commitments to addressing its historical benefits from slavery in the Caribbean nation. 

“Harvard’s historical ties to Antigua and Barbuda are clear. The wealth derived from the forced labour of enslaved persons on Antiguan plantations – including those owned by the Royall family – helped to fund Harvard Law School and other aspects of the University’s development.

“The lives and labour of those enslaved individuals were intrinsic to Harvard’s early financial capacity, and as such, Harvard bears not only a moral debt but a practical one to Antigua and Barbuda,” Sir Ronald said in the February 11th letter addressed to Harvard President Dr Alan Garber.