Princeton's Board of Trustees has voted to remove President Woodrow Wilson's name from the university's School of Public and International Affairs because of "racist views and policies."
"On my recommendation, the board voted to change the names of both the School of Public and International Affairs and Wilson College," Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber said in a statement.
"The trustees concluded that Woodrow Wilson’s racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school or college whose scholars, students, and alumni must stand firmly against racism in all its forms."
Wilson, who was born in Staunton, Virginia, was the first Southerner to be elected U.S. president since Zachary Taylor in 1848. He served two terms as president, from 1913 to 1921. He served as president of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910 when he resigned to run successfully for governor of New Jersey, a post he kept until he became president.
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Eisgruber noted that Wilson, as president, "segregated the federal civil service after it had been racially integrated for decades, thereby taking America backward in its pursuit of justice."
The board, which took the vote Friday, said the issue had become more urgent with the recent killings of Black Americans George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks, three of them by police.
Eisgruber said this "searing moment in American history has made clear that Wilson’s racism disqualifies him from that role."
"In a nation that continues to struggle with racism, this University and its school of public and international affairs must stand clearly and firmly for equality and justice," he added.
The board, in its statement, said that identifying a political leader as a namesake for a public policy school "inevitably suggests that the honoree is a role model for those who study in the school."
"We must therefore ask whether it is acceptable for this University’s school of public affairs to bear the name of a racist who segregated the nation’s civil service after it had been integrated for decades," the board said.
The board's decision also included the removal of Wilson's name from one of Princeton's residential colleges.
In 2016, the university had rebuffed earlier public pressure to remove Wilson's name from the public policy school.
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Princeton removes Woodrow Wilson's name from school, citing his 'racist thinking and policies' - USA TODAY
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