This piece speaks on Princeton University's ties to racism and the institution's "efforts" to bettering itself. Cover photo by Jewel Justice.
From the outset, Princeton University has been deeply tied to racism, exclusion, and white supremacy. The campus sits on the homelands of the Lenni-Lenape peoples, who are Indigenous to the Northeast region. Also, 16 out of the institution’s 23 founding trustees were slaveholders. Today, many of the campus buildings are named after these racist white men---including Stanhope Hall, which was named after racist slaveholder Samuel Stanhope Smith. Stanhope Hall still stands on Princeton's campus today and formerly housed the African American Studies department.
Princeton is not the only institution built on racism, however the university has a unique reach and impact, considering that it is known as the number one university in the United States and one of the most prestigious universities in the world due to its research contributions.
While Princeton now claims a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, much more work needs to be done. There needs to be institutional change rather than surface-level solutions.
Currently, Princeton has a few strategies relating specifically to diversity and inclusion. The Many Voices, One Future initiative, for example, is a resource that provides people with the information on what Princeton is doing to further diversity and inclusion. On the website, you can see the university’s annual reports on DEI and bias, as well as a website on “Walking Princeton’s (In)visible History.” Each of these links, as well as the language used on the Many Voices, One Future site propagate the idea that Princeton is doing so much to “commit” to DEI.
Not only does this brush over the institutional racism Princeton has taken part in, but it also incorrectly equates DEI efforts to anti-racism efforts. Increasing diversity is not the same as working toward anti-racism.
Although it existed in different forms earlier, a new wave of DEI programs launched after the wide focus on racial justice and shift to remote work in 2020. Often, this meant more tangible policies and open conversations in corporate settings regarding DEI, as well as businesses aiming to make the workplace more inclusive by hiring more people of color. Anti-racism means looking inward and examining the ways in which you have perpetuated racial exclusion and inequity, as well as working to uproot it from an institutional level. It is more than holding discussion sessions and hiring more Black people.
Unfortunately, Princeton has not made this distinction nor explicitly named anti-racism as a goal. In the DEI report for 2022-23, the “[c]ampus programming, networking and resources” section lists a number of efforts the university has made in its claim to supporting DEI. It discusses things like hiring DEI staff, hosting education programs regarding social issues, holding cultural graduation ceremonies, etc. Throughout the whole document, keywords that present the university in a positive light are bolded and central on the page.
Despite the fact that the university has some efforts---as it claims---aimed at increasing DEI, Princeton can and should do much more to better target its focus on anti-racism and care for students in racially marginalized communities.
During my time at Princeton, I worked with the RISE (Recognizing Inequities and Standing for Equality) Fellowship Program and collaborated with Pace Center staff to come up with strategies for advancing racial justice on and off campus, as well as to provide care for students from marginalized communities.
The Pace Center directly includes anti-racism in their strategic plan and acknowledges the harm Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian communities have faced. Given the Pace Center and RISE program's stated goals, they should help hold the university accountable, though they are still agents within the institution. Ultimately, Princeton needs to address racism at a systemic level, beyond superficial, band-aid solutions.
Image by Jewel Justice.
Image from my collection, Black (i)n White Spaces. Stanhope Hall, being flipped off in this photo, was named after racist slaveholder Samuel Stanhope Smith and still stands on Princeton's campus today. Several other campus buildings and halls are named after racist white men.