                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ENSLAVED ANCESTORS COLLEGE ACCESS SCHOLARSHIP AND MEMORIAL PROGRAM (§
23.1-615.1)

A. The Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program (the
Program) is established for the purpose of reckoning with the history of the
Commonwealth, addressing the long legacy of slavery in the Commonwealth, and
acknowledging that the foundational success of several public institutions of
higher education was based on the labor of enslaved individuals.

B. Consistent with the purpose set forth in subsection A, Longwood University,
the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia
Military Institute, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia shall each
implement and execute the Program, with any source of funds other than state
funds or tuition or fee increases, by annually (i) identifying and
memorializing, to the extent possible, all enslaved individuals who labored on
former and current institutionally controlled grounds and property and (ii)
providing a tangible benefit such as a college scholarship or community-based
economic development program for individuals or specific communities with a
demonstrated historic connection to slavery that will empower families to be
lifted out of the cycle of poverty.

C. The Council shall collaborate with the institutions set forth in subsection B
to establish guidelines for the implementation of the Program, including
guidelines for the identification of all enslaved individuals who labored on
former and current institutionally controlled grounds and property, the
development of appropriate means to memorialize these individuals, the
development of programs for individuals and communities still experiencing the
legacy of slavery to empower them to break the cycle of poverty, eligibility
criteria for participation in such programs, and the duration of such programs.

D. Each institution set forth in subsection B shall continue the activities set
forth in subsection B pursuant to the Program for a period equal in length to
the period during which the institution used enslaved individuals to support the
institution or until scholarships have been awarded to a number of recipients
equal to 100 percent of the population of enslaved individuals identified
pursuant to subsection B who labored on former and current institutionally
controlled grounds and property, whichever occurs first.

E. Each institution set forth in subsection B shall annually submit to the
Council information on the implementation of the Program. The Council shall
compile such information in a report and submit such report no later than
November 1 of each year to the Chairmen of the House Committee on
Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on
Education and Health, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, and
the Virginia African American Advisory Board.

F. Each private institution of higher education with a legacy of slavery that is
similar to that of any institution set forth in subsection B is strongly
encouraged to participate in the Program on a voluntary basis.

HISTORY: 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 442.