PRINCETON, N.J. — Woodrow Wilson’s name will remain on Princeton University’s public policy school, despite calls to remove it because the former U.S. president was a segregationist, the Ivy League university announced Monday.
Princeton was challenged to take a deeper look into Wilson’s life in the fall, when a group of students raised questions about his racist views. The Black Justice League held a 32-hour sit-in inside Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber’s office, demanding that Wilson’s name be removed from programs and buildings, including the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Affairs, and for other changes to make the university more diverse and inclusive.
Eisgruber said the process helped him learn more about one of Princeton’s most celebrated alumni and presidents.
“The students should recognize they have really changed the way people will talk about and remember Wilson,” said Eisgruber, a 1983 Princeton alumnus. “All the people whom we honor in history are going to be people with flaws and deficiencies. If we made that argument for not honoring people, we would honor nobody. The right attitude is to honor people, but be honest about their failings.”
Princeton also pledged to adopt other changes, including a pipeline program to encourage more minority students to pursue doctoral degrees and diversifying campus symbols and art.