World News: US - Harvard Law School to remove slavery crest

Harvard Law School has announced it will scrap its official emblem because of its links to an 18th century slaveholder.

The shield, which says "Veritas" and shows three sheaths of wheat, was modelled on the family crest of plantation owner Isaac Royall.

The prestigious Massachusetts school set up a committee in November of staff, students and alumni to review the crest, amid protests by student campaigners.

The panel announced on Friday it had recommended 10 to two that the shield be axed.

"We believe that if the law school is to have an official symbol, it must more closely represent the values of the law school, which the current shield does not," the committee said in a report.

A bequest from Royall endowed the first chair of law at Harvard and the crest was adopted as the law school's symbol in the 1930s.

He was the son of an Antiguan slaveholder known to have treated his slaves with extreme cruelty, including burning 77 people to death, the law school said.

Dean Martha Minow endorsed the departure of the crest.

"Its association with slavery does not represent the values and aspirations of the Harvard Law School," she said in a message to campus.

Last week Harvard also retired use of the title "house master" to denote staff who lead undergraduate residences.

They will refer to them instead as "faculty deans" after students protested the old term had undertones of slavery.

Harvard Law School is the alma mater of a number of prominent US politicians and lawyers, including President Barack Obama.

There have been demonstrations about race on campuses in the US and the UK.

In January campaigners were angry when Oxford University's Oriel College refused to remove a statue of 19th century imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

Rhodes, who founded Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, endowed the Rhodes Scholarship, whose alumni include former US President Bill Clinton.

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