Princeton Students Stage Sit-In, Demand School Scrubs References to ‘Racist’ Woodrow Wilson
Princeton University students staged a sit-in today, occupying President Christopher L. Eisgrube‘s office to demand immediate institutional changes that will improve “the social and academic experiences” of black students at the ivy-league school.
According to NJ.com, participants in the rally, organized by the Black Justice League, met with Eisgrube at Nassau Hall for about an hour before moving into the president’s office. The group said they refused to leave until the university agrees to their list of demands, including that they “acknowledge the racist legacy of Woodrow Wilson,” rename university buildings that bear his name, require “cultural competency training for all staff and faculty,” and provide “a cultural space on campus dedicated specifically to Black students”:
Demands of student activists @Princeton. #StudentBlackOut pic.twitter.com/4XcaFr1SDT
— joey (@j_anyanwu) November 18, 2015
Black student activists at #PrincetonU have launched a protest and sit-in at the @Princeton President’s Office. pic.twitter.com/NgFO8zyDv4
— Naimah Hakim (@NaimahHakim) November 18, 2015
This demonstration comes as students at universities across the nation are embroiled in contentious debates about institutionalized racism in higher education. The student movements have also ignited a national conversation on whether free speech and safe spaces are mutually exclusive.
Earlier today, Princeton released a statement declaring “masters of the residential colleges at Princeton University have changed their titles to ‘head of the college,’ effective immediately,” adding that while the “term ‘master’ has a long history of use in universities (indeed since medieval times),” the word is now “anachronistic and unfortunate for the positions we hold.”
[Image via Wikimedia Commons]
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