This article, discusses Brown University's slavery report, a 106-page narrative examination of the early connections between Brown University and slavery, that has been greeted--so far--with silence. The report, done at the behest of Ruth J. Simmons, Brown's president and herself a descendant of slaves, is an unsparing look at a shameful side of the university's past. This act of institutional introspection, which was three years in the making, was prompted by an advertisement in Brown's student newspaper arguing against reparations for slavery. The report recommended that Brown formally acknowledge its ties to slavery, build a memorial on the campus, and establish a center on slavery and justice. The scholars who prepared the report contend that it is an overdue reckoning with a blemished history and a step toward healing old wounds. They also hope that it will prompt other colleges to examine their own pasts. However, not everyone has received the report so warmly. There are people who feel that the report didn't go far enough. As for the criticism that the report focused too much on the unsavory sections of Brown's past, Mr. Campbell, head of Brown's committee, points out that the committee's mission was to closely examine the university's ties to slavery, a mission he believes the committee accomplished.