Students at one of America’s most prestigious universities have voted to increase tuition fees in order to pay slavery reparations – the latest reckoning with the institution’s dark history.

Georgetown University, founded in 1789 by Jesuit priests, is today recognised as one of the leading colleges and law schools in the nation.

But its history is inextricably linked to slavery; the college relied on plantations in Maryland to help finance its operations in its early days, and in 1838 it sold 272 slaves to pay off debts – obtaining today’s equivalent of $3.3m.

On Thursday, students at the university, located in Washington DC, voted overwhelmingly to increase tuition fees and used that money to establish a fund to benefits the descendants of the slaves who were sold.

“The university values the engagement of our students and appreciates that 3,845 students made their voices heard in yesterday’s election,” said Todd Olson, vice president for student affairs. “This student referendum provides valuable insight into student perspectives and will help guide our continued engagement with students, faculty and staff, members of the descendant community, and the Society of Jesus.”

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The students voted 2,541 – 1,304 for what has been termed the “Reconciliation Contribution”. This would increase each term’s fees by $27.20, the figure symbolising the number of slaves that were sold in 1838, and modest enough for most students to meet.

Annual fees, which include tuition, board and lodging, and books, are currently $71,580. The vote by students is not binding, and authorities have not said whether they will enact the increase or help establish a fund.

Lee Baker, a descendant of Nace and Biby Butler, a married couple who are among the 272 enslaved people sold in 1838, told the student newspaper, The Hoya, the vote was very important.

“The students remembered, recognised, and reignited awareness about descendants who literally made it possible for today’s Georgetown University,” they said.

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“Regardless of what happens, we will know that Georgetown University students practised solidarity and decided to ensure that such an historic injustice has a permanent lens for awareness, analysis and action.”

Georgetown, one of many of the nation’s leading colleges that had links to slavery, has slowly been addressing its ugly past. In 2016, the New York Times published a major investigation into the role of slaves in securing the institution in its early days.

In 2017, it formally apologised for selling the slaves, and renamed a campus building after Isaac Hawkins, the first enslaved man listed in the 1838 sale.

“The university itself owes its existence to this history,” Adam Rothman, a historian at Georgetown and a member of a university working group examining the issue, told the newspaper.

The move comes as the issue of reparations for the centuries of slavery in the US, has become a more frequent part of the national conversation. The Associated Press said senator Cory Booker of New Jersey on Tuesday filed a bill to create a commission for studying reparation proposals.