Undergraduate students at Georgetown University voted overwhelmingly Thursday in favor of paying an additional fee to go toward reparations for the descendants of slaves sold by Georgetown in the 19^th century, in what would, if approved by the university, be the first time an American university financially addresses its past as a slave-owning institution.

The “Reconciliation Contribution” would charge students $27.20 per semester to go toward a fund, directed by a board of students and slave descendants, that would support projects in communities where some descendants of Georgetown’s slaves now live. But a student vote is not a binding measure that sets policy for the larger university, and the administration has not committed to the fund. Instead, the university has said it sees the vote as “valuable insight into student perspectives,” according to NBC News.

According to the Georgetown University Student Association Elections Commission, which announced the results on Friday, of the nearly 60 percent of undergraduates who voted, 2,541 supported the measure and 1,304 opposed it.