On Sunday, students calling themselves Princeton Open Campus Coalition formed to argue against the demands made by protestors last week and have written to Princeton's president.
PRINCETON -- The student-led protests and sit-in last week at Princeton University led to a signed agreement between university officials and protesters, and ultimately action from the board of trustees.
It also drew a crowd of on-campus opponents.
On Sunday, students calling themselves Princeton Open Campus Coalition drafted a letter to University President Christopher Eisgruber, arguing against the protests and demands made by the Black Justice League (BJL), which occupied the president's office for two days last week.
The group said they are currently in the process of organizing a meeting with Eisgruber regarding their opinions.
Evan Draim, a senior and co-drafter of the letter, said that the idea for the coalition grew after he and others felt like they weren't allowed to voice their opinions if they opposed the league's message.
"We wanted to fight back against the policing of free speech," Draim said.
"This dialogue is necessary because many students have shared with us that they are afraid to state publicly their opinions on recent events for fear of being vilified, slandered, and subjected to hatred, either by fellow students or faculty," the coalition's letter states.
The letter says many who questioned the protest were labeled racist, and black students who expressed disagreement with the protesters were called "white sympathizers" and were told they were "not black," the letter says.
The BJL-led protests last Wednesday started when the league delivered a letter to Eisgruber with several demands for change, from addressing President Woodrow Wilson's legacy on campus to cultural competency training.
The BJL's occupation ended late Thursday when Eisgruber and the league signed an agreement over their demands, which the university agreed to examine.
And on Sunday, Eisgruber announced in that the board of trustees had agreed to set up a committee to examine Wilson's legacy and how his name is recognized on campus.
The overall agreement between Eisgruber and protesters does not sit well with the new coalition group.
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/11/after_protests_princeton_univ_will_look_into_woodr.html
"Academic discourse consists of reasoned arguments," the coalition's letter to Eisgruber says, "We will conduct ourselves in the civil manner that it is our hope to maintain and reinforce as the norm at Princeton."
"We will not occupy your office, and, though we respectfully request a minimum of an hour of your time, we will only stay for as long as you wish," the letter says.
The letter, Draim said, was written to clearly lay out the specific demands raised last week by the BJL.
One that they took issue with especially was the demand for cultural competency training and mandatory classes about marginalized people's histories.
"That is a thinly veiled attempt to have students take courses from professors who support the narrative of the protesters," Draim said.
He said Princeton students should be able to hear from, "a wide range of perspectives," and that protesters should be open to taking classes from professors with viewpoints different from their own.
In the letter, the group compared cultural competency training to "communist rule."
The coalition also has issues with removing Wilson's name from campus, saying in the letter that it would "purge (and literally paint over) recognitions of Woodrow Wilson's achievements."
Draim called the suggestion to remove Wilson's name, "historical revisionism."
"We don't want to whitewash the fact that he held racist, bigoted beliefs," Draim said but added that many admired historical figures were known to be racist.
Draim also said that creating a space for black students on campus - a demand of the BJL - would keep students from, "engaging with students of all perspectives."
"We are all members of the Princeton community. We denounce the notion that our basic interactions with each other should be defined by demographic traits," the coalition's letter states.
The coalition does not have a set time for when they will meet Eisgruber.
Draim said Monday the group had gained over 200 followers - both on campus and in the alumni community. The group's Facebook page had nearly 300 likes as of Monday evening.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.