HISTORY

Princeton to Keep Woodrow Wilson’s Name

Ex-president and segregationist.

President Woodrow Wilson’s name will remain on Princeton University’s school of public policy and international affairs, based on the recommendation by a committee formed after protests on the Ivy League campus last year. Wilson was president of Princeton from 1902 to 1910, and he won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for creating the League of Nations while in the White House. However, he also supported segregation at the federal level and prevented the enrollment of black students at Princeton during his tenure as president there. A special committee was formed to look into the Wilson legacy based on student protests by the Black Justice League last fall. Protesters occupied the university president’s office, demanding that Wilson’s name be removed from the school. The committee said Monday: “The controversy surrounding Wilson’s name was emblematic of larger concerns about the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity,” adding that the college must be transparent “in recognizing Wilson’s failings and shortcomings as well as the visions and achievements that led to the naming of the school and the college in the first place.”