“Wilson’s racism was significant and serious, even by the standards of his era,” said Christopher Eisgruber, president of the university. The institute will in future be called the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. “Princeton is part of America, which all too often has underestimated, ignored or apologized for racism,” Eisgruber wrote. This, he said, allowed “systems that discriminate against blacks” to continue.
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University management said the decision to remove Wilson’s name was linked to the deaths of black George Floyd and other dark-skinned Americans who died in police action.
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However, the name of the highest award for university students given by the university will retain Wilson’s name. The school justified this by stating that it is legally bound to keep the name of the award.
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Wilson previously headed Princeton University, later served as governor of New Jersey, and was eventually the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. Wilson’s policy had a significant impact on the fate of the Czechs and Slovaks, but also of other nations of the Habsburg monarchy. Wilson’s 14-point program, which included the autonomous development of the nations of Austria-Hungary, served as one of the foundations for the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia.
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