Due to the threat of heavy rain and lightning, Brown University's 249th Opening Convocation met in the Pizzitola Sports Center at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012.

First-year students learned about the University’s connection to the slave trade in this year’s summer reading choice, “Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade and the American Revolution.” The selection came in concurrence with the appointment of Anthony Bogues, professor of Africana studies, as the inaugural director for the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice in May.

Each year, on the Monday before Convocation, incoming freshmen gather with Brown faculty and administration in classrooms throughout campus to engage in “First Readings” seminars, a discussion centered around Brown’s summer reading project for incoming students.

B. Anthony Bogues, the Harmon Family Professor of Africana Studies at BrownUniversity, has been named inaugural director of the University's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice.

The Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence is making grants totaling $50,237 to four Providence schools to enhance literacy learning, promote nonviolence, and purchase performing arts supplies and computers.

At its February meeting, the Corporation of Brown University selected acclaimed American artist Martin Puryear to create a slavery memorial on the University campus.