Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. Please contact us in case of abuse. In case of abuse, Bard Hall at Columbia University (Wikimedia Commons) In 2015, Columbia University began a project to examine its historical ties to slavery. The project was commissioned by President Lee Bollinger, who approved the initial funding. The University and its president have received glowing coverage in prominent news outlets lauding the initiative and support for communities who had experienced injustices. Coverage of the initiative however, omits the something important; inaction and procrastination on the part of Columbia University, in regard to the use of slave-owning Samuel Bard’s name across the University including the Bard Hall Medical campus. Extensive documentation details Samuel Bard as having three enslaved persons in his household in the Census of 1790, seven in 1800, and eight in 1810. The necessity for swift change had been made blatantly clear.