A committee recommended Harvard Law School remove its official seal Friday, following months of scrutiny surrounding the symbol that has ties to an 18th-century slave owner.
上周五,在经过数月关于标志的仔细检查后,一委员会建议哈佛法学院更改其官方院徽。该院徽标志和18世纪奴隶主有关。
"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 made up of professors, alumni, students and staff wrote in its recommendation.
该委员会是由教授、校友、学生和工作人员组成的,他们在推荐信中这样写道:"我们相信,如果法学院要有一个官方标志的话,那它应该更切实地代表法学院的价值,而现在的盾牌没有做到这一点。"
The shield's meaning has changed over time, said Bruce Mann, committee chairman and Harvard Law professor. "Too many people think the shield has become an impediment," he said. "Too many people see the association with slavery."
委员会主席兼哈佛法律教授布鲁斯·曼恩表示,盾牌的意义随着时间的前进也已经有所改变。他说:"很多人觉得盾牌已经成为了一种障碍。很多人看到了它和奴隶制度的关联。"
The shield, officially adopted in 1937, depicts three bundles of wheat, an image borrowed from the family crest of Isaac Royall Jr., under the university's motto "Veritas."
这枚盾牌标志于1937年首次采用,由3捆小麦组成,图像借鉴自小艾萨克·罗亚尔的家族纹饰,以哈佛校训"真理"命名。
Royall donated his estate to create the first law professorship at Harvard University. His father, Isaac Royall Sr., made much of the family wealth on the backs of slaves on Caribbean sugar plantations and Massachusetts farms.
罗亚尔曾向哈佛大学捐款,设立了学校首个法学教授职位。他的父亲萨克·罗亚尔先生是依靠加勒比甘蔗种植园和马塞诸州农场的黑人创造了大部分的家族财富。
Dean Martha Minow created the committee after some law school students formed a group called Royall Must Fall to denounce the shield. "I endorse the recommendation to retire the shield because its association with slavery does not represent the values and aspirations of the Harvard Law School."
在一些法学院学生成立了名为“罗亚尔必须倒下”的组织来谴责盾牌之后,法学院院长玛莎·米诺顺势成立了委员会。她向学生和校友这样写道:"我批准了更换盾牌的建议,因为它和奴隶有关,无法代表哈佛法学院的价值观和抱负。"
However, not everyone is agreeing with the decision. One professor on the committee, joined by a student, said keeping the current shield was a way to honor the slaves whose sacrifice provided the Royall family with its wealth.
但是并不是每个人都同意这一决定。委员会中的一名教授和一名学生就表示,保留目前的盾牌院徽是一种纪念那些为罗亚尔家族财富做出牺牲的奴隶的方式。