(CNN) Wingate University, a private liberal arts college in North Carolina, has set up a committee to determine "next steps" after learning its namesake, Washington Manly Wingate, sold slaves a year before the Civil War. The committee of faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees, town officials and others will discuss next steps, the university said in a statement . "This truth hurts," Wingate President Rhett Brown said in the statement. Washington Manly Wingate was never actually involved with his namesake university. A preacher and professor, Wingate was the fourth president of Wake Forest University, serving from 1853 to 1862 and again after the Civil War from 1866 until his death in 1879.

Source: CNN May 09, 2021 17:15 UTC