"I'm happy but not satisfied," Black Justice League (BJL) member Wilglory Tanjong said Friday. Watch video
PRINCETON -- After two days of protests, occupation and a sit-in at the presidents's office, the Princeton University students who brokered a signed agreement with the university on changes they demanded said Friday their work is far from over.
"I'm happy but not satisfied," Black Justice League (BJL) member Wilglory Tanjong said Friday.
Members of the BJL reconvened Friday afternoon, not 24 hours following the 32-hour sit-in they led at President Christopher L. Eisgruber's office and Nassau Hall.
The league and around 100 student supporters on Wednesday had demanded the administration make changes to improve life on campus for black students.
The demands included doing away with the name "Woodrow Wilson" on everything related to campus, citing his racist views and ties to the Ku Klux Klan; making faculty and staff undergo mandatory cultural competency training; and opening up a space for black students on campus.
A Wednesday meeting between the BJL and Eisgruber ended without an agreement, and the students vowed to stay in his office until they had one.
When the two sides came together Thursday night following a four-hour session, the changes that Eisgruber and two officials agreed to looked a little different from the group's original demands.
Many of the agreements the president conceded to involved writing to other people about putting the protester's demands in place.
Still, Eisgruber and university officials agreed to "initiate the process to consider removal of Wilson's mural" from a dining hall.
And the president agreed to email the chairwoman of the university's board of trustees to "initiate conversations concerning the present legacy of Woodrow Wilson on this campus, including Black Justice League's request to remove Woodrow Wilson's name," the agreement states.
The agreement also calls for the two sides to work together on the other issues.
Tanjong said Friday she recognizes that Eisgruber himself did not have the authority to meet many of the demands the group put forth.
The protest and the meetings with Eisgruber gave the group a chance to initiate the process, Tanjong said. And while a meeting scheduled Friday between the university and the BJL fell through, Tanjong said they hope to meet with trustees soon.
"We have meetings scheduled," she said.
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/11/protesting_princeton_students_and_university_reach.html
The nearly two-day protest drew national attention Wednesday and Thursday.
Former Princeton professor Cornel West and the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, voiced their support.
But the demonstration also drew negative attention.
Only 30 minutes after the protests had come to a close Thursday night, the Princeton community received an alert via email that someone had made a "bomb and firearm threat" and referenced the protest.
For Tanjong, it was a shock but not a surprise.
She said she was walking home around 9 p.m., celebrating the conclusion of the protest when she received the email on her phone. She and some others who were involved in the protest decided not to stay on campus Thursday and called the university for help.
"We are very well known as BJL," Tanjong said.
She believes it wouldn't be difficult for people who pose a threat to find members of the league on campus.
But, she said, the university was not immediately helpful.
"I had to convince them that my safety was threatened," Tanjong said.
University spokesman Martin Mbugua said Friday that public safety officers offered alternative on campus housing to students but they declined, in favor of going to an off-campus hotel. He also said earlier Friday that the university did not believe the threat was credible.
Public safety officers did help some students get off campus but did not stay to protect them, despite Tanjong asking them to, she said.
Mbugua said Friday that the department of public safety officers did not stay with the students but explained that was because they don't have jurisdiction at the hotel. The officers did tell hotel staff and the Princeton Police Department that the students were concerned, Mbugua said.
For Tanjong and other members of the league, the university's response was upsetting.
"They couldn't guard us when we really needed them to," she said. "Every process of safety still had to come from us... it's exhausting."
PLUS: Should Princeton U. remove Woodrow Wilson's name?
As the BJL and supporters continued their work Friday, a group calling themselves "Concerned Princetonians" started a petition on change.org, arguing against the protester's demands.
"We, the undersigned members of the Princeton University community, appreciate the concerns but oppose the demands of the Black Justice League. We call for increased dialogue and the creation of a process that properly considers the input of all students and faculty, not merely those who are the loudest," the petition stated.
It went on to oppose each of the demands in detail, calling the Wilson name demand a "slippery slope" and saying that a space for black students "creates segregation."
By Friday afternoon the petition - which was posted after the Black Justice League's own petition - had almost 500 supporters.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
#OccupyNassau ends in jubilation as student protesters announce the demands that were met. #StudentBlackOut pic.twitter.com/oZl85qGUyU
-- Univ Press Club (@UnivPressClub) November 20, 2015