After years of debate, Princeton University announced on Saturday that it would remove President Woodrow Wilson’s name from the university’s revered school of public policy.
The school, known as the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs since taking the former President’s name since 1948, will now be called The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
The decision was made Princeton’s Board of Trustees at a meeting on Friday, and also includes removing Wilson’s name from one of the university’s six residence colleges, which are each made up of multiple dorms, common areas and a dining hall.
“We have taken this extraordinary step because we believe that Wilson’s racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school whose scholars, students, and alumni must be firmly committed to combatting the scourge of racism in all its forms,” the Trustees wrote in a statement.
The move was recommended to the Trustees by Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber.
“Wilson’s segregationist policies make him an especially inappropriate namesake for a public policy school,” Eisgruber wrote in a statement. “When a university names a school of public policy for a political leader, it inevitably suggests that the honoree is a model for students who study at the school.”
Controversy around the school’s name has swirled for years, stirred on by a struggle to balance Wilson’s achievements with his racist beliefs.
Wilson was the 28th president of the United States, serving two terms from 1913 to 1921. His legacy is highlighted by leading America through World War I, creating the League of Nations (the predecessor to the United Nations), and instituting the Federal Reserve Bank system.
Before occupying the White House, Wilson served as New Jersey’s 38th governor from 1911 to 1913.
But Wilson also held segregationist views that influenced his actions as President and governor. As President, Wilson segregated the federal civil service, which had been integrated at that point. When he was leading the Garden State, Wilson refused to hire Black people in his administration.
Wilson is deeply tied to Princeton, having served as the university’s president for eight years, beginning in 1902. He also graduated from the university in 1879.
“Wilson remade Princeton, converting it from a sleepy college into a great research university,” Eisgruber wrote.
Just as his time in public office was marred by racist views, so was Wilson’s tenure leading Princeton. This was evident in his views on accepting Black students into the university.
“The whole temper and tradition of the place [Princeton] are such that no Negro has ever applied for admission, and it seems unlikely that the question will ever assume practical form,” Wilson once wrote.
In their statement, the Trustees explained that the current state of affairs in America — as the nation grapples with systemic racism in the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Tayler and other unarmed Black people at the hands of police — has changed how Princeton should consider memorials to Wilson.
“If the question before us were how to weigh Wilson’s achievements against his failures, members of the Princeton community might reach varying judgments. We believe, however, that these times present the University with a different question,” the Trustees wrote. “Identifying a political leader as the namesake for a public policy school inevitably suggests that the honoree is a role model for those who study in the school. We must therefore ask whether it is acceptable for this University’s school of public affairs to bear the name of a racist who segregated the nation’s civil service after it had been integrated for decades.”
The Trustees stressed the university still has a responsibility to remember Wilson’s complete legacy.
“Though we conclude today that Wilson’s racism makes him an inappropriate namesake for the University’s School of Public and International Affairs, we recognize that Princeton has a continuing responsibility to remember his achievements even as we honestly and publicly contend with his failures,” the Trustees wrote.
Eisgruber said the university’s work against systemic racism will continue beyond the re-namings.
“The steps taken yesterday by the Board of Trustees are extraordinary measures,” Eisgruber said. “These are not the only steps our University is taking to combat the realities and legacy of racism, but they are important ones.”
The honoring of Wilson on Princeton’s campus has been a swirling controversy in recent years.
In 2015, Princeton students organized a sit-in to call for the removal of Wilson’s name from buildings on campus, for the removal of a mural of Wilson and for the university to acknowledge Wilson’s racist legacy. Rev. William Barber, a prominent member of the NAACP, joined the sit-in. The students also drew the support of Cornel West, current U.S. Senate candidate Lawrence Hamm, faculty members and alumni.
In response to the student protests, later that year Princeton formed a committee to examine Wilson’s history. Months later, in the spring of 2016, that committee recommended that Wilson’s name stay on the school of public policy, but that the university take steps to improve diversity on campus.
Shortly after the committee made its recommendations, a photo of Wilson was removed from a Princeton dining hall.
In 2017, as part of grappling with its racial history, Princeton released the Princeton and Slavery Project, which detailed ways in which slavery is part of the university’s past.
Princeton is not the only school rethinking honorifics for the former President. Earlier this month, Monmouth University announced that it would remove Wilson’s name from a building on campus. Monmouth’s Board of Trustees said the decision was intended to help foster diversity and inclusion on the school’s Long Branch campus.
Also earlier this month, school officials in Camden announced that the district would rename Woodrow Wilson High School. The Camden decision came after a grassroots push from community members to rename the school.
Beyond Wilson, schools across New Jersey are pushing to remove a variety of controversial figures from their campuses.
This story was updated at 2:30 p.m. to clarify that Wilson’s name is also being removed from a residential college, rather than a residence hall.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.
Comments