Bowdoin to Discontinue Annual Academic Award in the Name of Jefferson Davis (ME)

October 21, 2015 by Bowdoin

Bowdoin College will no longer present an academic award in the name of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Established in 1972 with an endowed gift from the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), the Jefferson Davis Award had been presented annually to a student or students excelling in constitutional law. Davis received an honorary degree from the College in 1858, prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.

“It is inappropriate for Bowdoin College to bestow an annual award that continues to honor a man whose mission was to preserve and institutionalize slavery,” said Bowdoin College President Clayton Rose.

The award consists of a cash prize funded entirely by the endowment established by the UDC. The Bowdoin Board of Trustees voted at their most recent meetings to return the entire current value of the endowment to the UDC ...

http://community.bowdoin.edu/news/2015/10/bowdoin-to-discontinue-annual-academic-award-in-the-name-of-jefferson-davis/