Congresswoman Denounces Princeton Investigation

PRINCETON, NJ — Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Mercer released a statement on Tuesday denouncing the US Department of Education’s investigate of Princeton University.

The university is under investigation for its non-discrimination practices after university president Christopher L. Eisgrube acknowledged the school’s history of "systemic racism" in a Sep. 2 letter to the community.

Read More Here: Feds Investigating Princeton University For Racial Bias

Calling the investigation “dumbfounding” and “mind-boggling”, Watson Coleman said it was a waste of taxpayer resources.

“Those resources would have been better used to investigate targeting of minorities by for-profit colleges, where they often left such students loans and no meaningful skills or degrees,” said Watson Coleman.

“But, from an administration whose Secretary of Education suggested Historically Black Colleges and Universities created during segregation were great examples of school choice, I can’t say that I’m surprised,” she said.

The Education Department also suggested that Princeton may not have been eligible for more than $75 million in taxpayer funding it received since 2013, since it was dependent on the university's compliance to nondiscrimination laws.

Officials said they were considering measures to "recover funds" or impose a fine.

“It is utter stupidity, and a waste of taxpayer resources to investigate racism and threaten to clawback over $75 million from a school that has just said it will do everything it can to address its racist past,” said Watson Coleman.

“This investigation is a symptom of a sickness, and I’ll do everything in my power to find its cure,” she said.

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