University of South Carolina unveils plaques recognizing slave contributions to campus

The University of South Carolina unveiled two prominent plaques on campus Tuesday recognizing the role of slave labor in the development of the college. 

An overflow crowd of around 200 packed in to Rutledge Chapel on campus for a ceremony celebrating the markers as top university officials touted the plaques as a demonstration of ongoing efforts to look back critically at the history of the state and the campus.

"We are here as students, as teachers, as colleagues, as neighbors, united in desire and united in need to give far belated thanks and recognition to those persons who toiled during the foundation of the college and during its first 64 years," university President Harris Pastides said.