Ancestor demands $3.6 billion compensation after university renames its law school

The University of Richmond (UR) renamed the T.C. Williams Law School after students and faculty protested the fact that its namesake was a tobacco business owner who owned between 25 and 40 slaves.

Now, one ancestor wants his family’s money back. 

Virginia Lawyer Robert C. Smith asserts that the Virginia university owes his family over $3 billion after its law school changed its name following student and faculty protests. 

The law school was previously named after Smith’s great-great grandfather, T.C. Williams, who owned between 25 and 40 slaves, the university claims, according to CBS News. 

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T.C. Williams attended the university from 1846 to 1849, served on its board, and donated thousands of dollars to re-establish the law school.

In a letter to the President of the University of Richmond Kevin F. Hallock, Smith called the name change “shameful,” claiming his family was responsible for developing much of early Richmond and the school.

Smith calculates his family had given a total of $3.6 billion to the university.

The renaming of buildings is not new at UR. The university has taken down several names associated with slavery and racism. 

After soliciting 7,500 community members, UR implemented a new policy in 2021 that banned any slaveholder or advocate of slavery from having his or her name on a campus building, school, or program.

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Official action came in 2022 when UR changed the names of six campus buildings.

This name change follows a trend of other universities renaming mascots, buildings, and other facilities.

In response to the allegations by Smith of UR caving to the woke mob and insulting the honor of the Williams family, President Hallock recognized there would be “disappointment” and “disagreement,” but affirmed it does not take away from the role the Williams family played in the history of the institution.

Smith also told Campus Reform ”This school was very dear to the Williams family. I want to protect what they loved by forcing the school to return to its roots of a classical liberal arts and sciences education. Today it an anti-intellectual cesspool of political correctness and faux learning.”

Campus Reform reached out to the President of the Federalist Society chapter at the University of Richmond law school, but he declined to comment on the situation.