The Ivy League university announced Monday an expanded and more vigorous commitment to diversity and inclusion on campus.
PRINCETON -- Princeton University announced Monday that President Woodrow Wilson's name will stay on the university's School of Public Policy and International Affairs.
The recommendation was made by a special committee convened to examine Wilson's legacy on the Ivy League campus, following student-led protests in November.
The protests, by the Black Justice League, occupied the university president's office for over 30 hours and demanded Wilson's name be removed, as well as several other changes. The group eventually struck a deal with university President Christopher L. Eisgruber, which led to the special committee.
The university's board of trustees adopted the special committee's report, the university said Monday, along other changes in which the university will improve on diversity.
"The controversy surrounding Wilson's name was emblematic of larger concerns about the University's commitment to diversity and inclusivity," the committee said Monday in a report detailing their decision to keep the name.
After protests, Princeton students say they will press for change
"(Princeton plans) to create a more multi-faceted understanding and representation of Wilson on campus and to focus attention on aspects of Princeton's history that have been forgotten, overlooked, subordinated, or suppressed," the statement said.
The committee said the university must be "honest and forthcoming about its history" and 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."
The other changes include: encouraging more students from underrepresented groups to pursue doctoral degrees; changing the university's informal motto and diversifying campus art and iconography to reflect the inclusivity of today's Princeton, the statement said.
The motto will change from, "Princeton in the nation's service and the service of all nations" to "Princeton in the nation's service and the service of humanity."
The special committee, the Wilson Legacy Review Committee, is made up of 10 people, nine who were Princeton graduates.
Princeton's problem: Woodrow Wilson's 'racist' legacy
They held nine meetings between early December and late March, created a website to collect observations and opinions about Wilson and his legacy and received more than 635 submissions from undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the general public, the university said.
And nine historians weighed in on Wilson legacy to the committee.
"This has been a learning experience for us and for the university community, and it has reminded us how much we can learn when we listen to one another, as we have throughout this process and as we need to continue to do, committee chair Brent Henry said the university's statement.
Before he was the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson served eight years at the president of Princeton University starting in 1902. He was the university's 13th president and was a member of Princeton's class of 1879.
His name adorns a cafe, a residential college and the prominent Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Affairs, which was named in his honor in 1948.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.