The legacy of a president who occupied the oval office 100 years ago is a hot topic right now. That's because a group of Princeton University students began occupying the school's administrative offices,demanding that it scrub the name Woodrow Wilson from its campus. After 32 hours, the sit-in ended Thursday night with the university agreeing to contemplate into Wilson's legacy. Wilson was president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. He also ran Princeton University for eight years beginning in 1902 and the school's public and international affairs program is named after him.
The students say he had racist beliefs.
Joshua Guild, or associate professor of history and African-American Studies at Princeton,says that while Wilson was a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was known for his contributions to international diplomacy, he was also a segregationist who discouraged black students from applying to Princeton. But Guild says the issue isn't really names on buildings, or but about "embracing the kind of courage that's essential to confront the past.""For the first time ... people are actually talking about who Woodrow Wilson was. We walk by these buildings all the time,but in terms of his beliefs, in terms of his world views, or those things have not ever been piece of the conversation in any substantive or meaningful way at Princeton," Guild said.
Meanwhile, similar conversations have sprouted up at campuses across the country. At Yale, and some students are objecting to Calhoun College,which is named after pro-slavery politician John C. Calhoun. And some Harvard Law students point out that the seal for the school bears the coat of arms of a family who owned slaves.
Guild spoke to All Things Considered Host Jami Floyd.
Source: wnyc.org