NPR reports Princeton University’s board voted to keep former President Woodrow Wilson’s name on its School of Foreign Policy in spite of Wilson’s racist and segregationist views.
“On balance we though his contributions were significant enough that it didn’t require eliminating his name,” one board member said.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro engaged in a similar debate earlier this year, the UNCG’s board came to a different conclusion: former North Carolina Gov. Charles B. Aycock’s racist and segregationist sympathies did merit removal of his name from the university’s on-campus auditorium.
Last time I checked Aycock still loomed large over the corner of Spring Garden and Tate streets; UNCG is probably waiting for the end of the school year to begin work. In the meantime, I wonder how many students are suffering as they walk by and lay eyes on Aycock’s name, as Chancellor Frank Gilliam suggested in an op-ed explaining the university’s position.
