In 2003, President Ruth Simmons appointed a committee, which included faculty, undergraduate and graduate students and administrators, to investigate the University’s historical relationship to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. After devoting three years to the task, the committee issued a report detailing how some of Brown’s founders and benefactors participated in slavery and the transatlantic slave trade and the benefits the University derived from these activities. The report also recommended that Brown establish a Center of Slavery and Justice; create a slave trade memorial; support educational engagements with the local community; and “maintain high ethical standards in regard to investments and gifts.”  On February 24, 2007, the Brown Corporation endorsed a set of initiatives proposed within the report.