Princeton strips Woodrow Wilson’s name from prestigious public policy school

Princeton has stripped the name of 28th President Woodrow Wilson from a college and public policy school due to his ‘racist thinking.’

Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber announced Saturday the institution will remove Wilson’s name from its public policy school and a residential college.

‘On my recommendation, the board voted to change the names of both the School of Public and International Affairs and Wilson College,’ Eisgruber said in a statement.

He added: ‘the trustees concluded that Woodrow Wilson’s racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school or college whose scholars, students, and alumni must stand firmly against racism in all its forms.’

Wilson served as president from 1913 to 1921, during the period following Reconstruction that is known as the nadir of American race relations.

A Democrat, he oversaw progressive policies and led the nation in World War I, as well as establishing the UN-precursor League of Nations.

He was also the first southerner to be elected president after the Civil War, and oversaw the segregation of the federal government.

Famously during Wilson’s presidency, D. W. Griffith’s film The Birth of a Nation, which celebrated the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, was the first motion picture to be screened in the White House.

The film also quotes Wilson’s historical scholarship on the KKK, but after seeing it Wilson disavowed the movie, saying he had been ‘unaware of the character of the play before it was presented.’ 

In 2016, Princeton’s board rejected activist demands to remove Wilson’s name. opting instead to take steps to highlight troublesome aspects of his administration. 

Eisgruber cited the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks as the reason for reconsidering the move. All were black people who died in encounters with police or civilians. 

Developing story, more to follow.