While history remembers Wilson largely as a progressive Democrat who championed many liberal reforms, he also held segregationist views
PRINCETON - Princeton University's connection to President Woodrow Wilson dates back more than 130 years, but his legacy remains preserved on buildings and in artwork on campus.
President Woodrow Wilson (Library of Congress) But it's the 28th president's well-documented and troubled history toward racial relations that have sparked a sit-in protest this week along with demands Princeton remove his name from prominence on campus.
Some historians have dubbed Wilson the most racist president in history because of his views toward segregation, lamentations about he pre-Civil War south and comments he made while he served as Princeton University's president.
Here are four questions and answers to help explain the ongoing controversy.
WHAT IS WOODROW WILSON'S CONNECTION TO PRINCETON?
Before he was the 26th 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.
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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. A mural depicting Wilson currently hangs in a dining hall and there is also a bust of Wilson on campus.
WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC CONCERNS ABOUT WILSON'S LEGACY?
While history remembers Wilson as a progressive Democrat who championed liberal reforms in the U.S. and abroad, he also held segregationist views and acted on them as president.
Wilson excused the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, calling it understandable in view of the "lawless" situation that victimized whites in the South after the Civil War. He once screened the film "Birth of a Nation," a film about the rise of the KKK in the post-Civil War South, in the White House.
As New Jersey's 38th governor, Wilson refused to confirm the hiring of blacks in his administration.
In his 8-year stint as president of Princeton University, Wilson did little to encourage black students to apply for admission.
"The whole temper and tradition of the place [Princeton] are such that no Negro has ever applied for admission, and it seems unlikely that the question will ever assume practical form," Wilson wrote.
WHAT LED TO THE PROTEST AT PRINCETON THIS WEEK?
The protest led by the Black Justice League, a Princeton student organization, started on Wednesday as part of a national day of action at dozens of college campuses called "Student Black Out."
The students presented demands to Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber when he spoke to the group in his office at Nassau Hall on Wednesday. They refused to leave until their three demands were met and stayed overnight in his office through Thursday. The first demand focused on Wilson's legacy:
"WE DEMAND the university administration publicly acknowledge the racist legacy of Woodrow Wilson and how he impacted campus policy and culture. We also demand that steps be made to rename Wilson residential college, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Affairs, and any other building named after him. Furthermore, we would like the mural of Wilson to be removed from the Wilcox dining hall."
IS THIS THE FIRST TIME THE ISSUE HAS BEEN RAISED?
As far back as July, students have been asking Eisgruber's administration to excise Wilson's name from campus.
In September, Princeton student Wilglory Tanjong authored a guest opinion published in The Daily Princetonian, the campus newspaper, voicing the concerns about Wilson's legacy.
The guest opinion by Tanjong, one of the organizers in the Black Justice League protest, was titled "On the Legacy of Woodrow Wilson, a Racist Bigot."
"It is impossible to be a student at Princeton without being constantly confronted with Wilson's legacy, or at least a counterfeit reproduction meticulously engineered by our University," Tanjong wrote. "Despite his extensive presence on campus, Wilson's legacy -- one distinctly rooted in racism and bigotry -- is rarely discussed. However, just as our nation reevaluated its bizarre attachment to the confederate flag, it is time for our University to reevaluate its blind veneration to its deeply racist demigod."
Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.