Princeton University President Addresses Students' Concerns About Former U.S. President

The Princeton University Board of Trustees has developed a subcommittee that will handle how the University recognizes former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, University President Chris Eisgruber said in a statement posted on the University’s website.

The subcommittee will collect information about Wilson’s record and impact from a wide array of perspectives and constituencies, Eisgruber said.

“This information will include a range of scholarly understandings of Wilson,” Eisgruber said.

The Board will also collect letters from experts familiar with Wilson, and those letters will be available to the public. The subcommittee will also accept input from alumni, faculty, students, and staff.

“Members of the Board’s subcommittee will schedule visits to Princeton’s campus early in the spring semester to listen to the views of the University community, including its alumni,” Eisgruber said. “After assessing the information it has gathered and hearing the views of all parts of the Princeton community, the Board will decide whether there are any changes that should be made in how the University recognizes Wilson’s legacy.”

The decision was made after about 30 students who are part of the Black Justice League, a Black Lives Matter group, staged a 32-hour sit-in on campus last week.

The students were demanding Wilson’s name be removed from college buildings and programs, as well as the removal of his mural from the Wilcox Dining Hall.

Wilson is a graduate of the University, and served as president of Princeton University from 1902-1910, and as New Jersey Governor from 1910-1913, just before becoming president. He supported segregation, and appointed Cabinet members who segregated federal departments.

The University agreed to look into the group’s request, as well as ways to display more ethnic diversity in the artwork around campus. The students weren’t disciplined as part of the agreement.

Last year, the University formed a Special Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to develop recommendations that would enable the University to “provide a more welcoming environment for students of all backgrounds.”

“The task force included students, faculty members, and administrators, and it had strong representation from student leaders who had participated in the heartfelt discussions that led to its creation,” Eisgruber said. “We accepted every recommendation that the task force made—recommendations that ranged from additional funding for programming and for staff support in key areas to a review of our academic programs and requirements and our orientation programs for students and new faculty.”

To read the full statement, visit princeton.edu.