Princeton University students staged a protest inside the University President’s office, demanding the school to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from school programs and buildings over his racist legacy, according to Yahoo News.
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“We demand the university administration publicly acknowledge the racist legacy of Woodrow Wilson and how he impacted campus policy and culture”, said the student protesters, cited by The Daily Caller.
Wilson, a Southern Democrat who served as Princeton’s president from 1902-1910, allowed his cabinet to re-segregate federal government departments and also forced civil servant applicants to include photographs, considered by African Americans at the time as a move to weed them out. On the second demand concerning the creation of Affinity Housing: Immediately designate four rooms in the Carl A. Fields Center that will be used by Cultural Affinity Groups. It contained no firm commitment to removing Wilson’s name from campus.
Thursday, about 20 members of the Black Justice League were still in the president’s office after sleeping there overnight, and refuse to leave until their demands are met. Shortly after the document was signed, an administrator received a bomb or firearm threat by email.
Eisgruber also agreed to quickly begin the process to “consider removal” of Wilson’s mural from a dining hall on campus.
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., last weekend said it would rename two buildings named for school presidents who oversaw the sale of slaves to settle campus debt in the 1800s.
Students from colleges across the United States rally over social issues, same day Princeton University announced it was ending the “master” title for leaders of the six residential colleges where students live.
In the petition Zuckerman and Draim write that the diversity requirement, if enacted, should allow students to choose which groups they want to study, rather than allow the Black Justice League to decide.
“We appreciate the willingness of the students to work with us to find a way forward for them, for us and for our community”, Eisgruber said.
The petition, titled “Protect Plurality, Historical Perspective, and Academic Speech at Princeton”, begins by asking for a process to address the concerns of the Black Justice League that “properly considers the input of all students and faculty, not merely those who are the loudest”. The University will also explore ways to display more ethnic diversity in the artwork around campus.
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Other student protests this week sprung up at the University of Cincinnati, Lewis & Clark College, and the University of Central Florida.
