Princeton University to Keep Woodrow Wilson's Name

[ericson00]

Here it is:

Woodrow Wilson's name will remain on Princeton University's public policy school, despite calls to remove it because the former U.S. president was a segregationist, the university announced Monday.

"Princeton must openly and candidly recognize that Wilson, like other historical figures, leaves behind a complex legacy of both positive and negative repercussions, and that the use of his name implies no endorsement of views and actions that conflict with the values and aspirations of our times," the Wilson Legacy Review Committee said in a statement, according to the university's communications office.

Princeton was challenged to take a deeper look into Wilson's life in the fall, when a group of students raised questions about his racist views and their impact on his policy. The Black Justice League held a 32-hour sit-in inside the Princeton president's office, demanding Wilson's name be removed from programs and buildings, including the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Affairs, and for other changes to be made on campus to make the university more diverse and inclusive.

I am very happy to hear this. Free speech (other than "fire" in a crowded theater) indeed must trump all. Far-left crazies are no better than far right ones.

I support the goals of ending racism and initiatives to promote better racial understanding and harmony among whites and non-whites. However, historical figures did live in their historical eras. Are we now to scrub the name of almost every building in Washington DC and thousands around the country? After all, Washington and Jefferson had slaves. Lincoln said: “I will say...I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.” FDR, after all, was responsible for turning the MS St. Louis, on which Jews who were being persecuted on the basis of their ethnoreligious group sought to escape Europe, the whole of which was being overrun by fascist movements just before WWII. And FDR opposed anti-lynching bills and brought about internment. About FDR:

Consider: FDR used to campaign in the South by referring to Reconstruction as the darkest time in the country’s history, before wooing the black vote in the North.

The names of historical figures on buildings is not a fight worth much merit, unless its someone like Robert E. Lee, which Woodrow Wilson was not. His racism was comparable to other American Presidents, not Confederate Slavery peddlers of times before him. Wilson is up there in the circle of Democratic Legends with Roosevelt in terms of economic impact, impact on American power, and unfortunately, racial issues. Let’s not let the progressive movement attach itself to a fringe movement because it is wrong and defines what many people call “political correctness.” Go Princeton Tigers!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. He was a complex, intelligent man and I agree with the University about keeping his name intact.

I recently finished reading a fascinating, densely written biography of Woodrow Wilson by A. Scott Berg.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Wilson-A-Scott-Berg/dp/0399159215

[scscholar]

2. Well that's sad

Another defeat for progress.

[ericson00]

3. Progress? Who should we "make progress" on next? Washington,

or Jefferson?

[TipTok]

4. We can only laud folks who meet our current societal standards?

Short list...

[UTUSN]

5. Times change. Below is FRANKFURTER quote. WILSON was my idealistic hero (also, Andy JACKSON).

FRANKFURTER (Pius XII,FDR on Holocaust) : [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]“Fluctuations of historic judgment are the lot of great men[/FONT], and Roosevelt will not escape it … But if history has its claim, so has the present. For it has been wisely said that [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]if the judgment of the time must be corrected by that of posterity[/FONT], it is no less true that [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]the judgment of posterity must be corrected by that of the time[/FONT].”

[Warpy]

6. If we allow today's college students to judge who deserves to be remembered

I'm terribly afraid no one will come up to their very high standards.

[LanternWaste]

8. The corollary also being just as true,

The corollary also being just as true, if we allow today's low information adult to judge who deserves to celebrated, I'm terribly afraid everyone in existence will both meet and exceed the exceptionally low standard.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other... and neither being valid in any sense of the word.

[Warpy]

12. Those adults are kids who never outgrew thinking they knew everything.

[still_one]

7. Is the building or memorial honoring the segregationist, and racist policies of Wilson, or

honoring his past affiliation with the University, and his work toward world piece.

Not unlike Pete Rose. Is the Baseball Hall of Fame for his contribution to baseball, or the scandal he is associated with, and can they be separated?

[ericson00]

9. his legacy at Princeton, like as President, is indeed nuanced and mixed

see:

Although the school's endowment was barely $4 million, Wilson sought $2 million for a preceptorial system of teaching, $1 million for a school of science, and nearly $3 million for new buildings and salary increases. As a long-term objective, Wilson sought $3 million for a graduate school and $2.5 million for schools of jurisprudence and electrical engineering, as well as a museum of natural history.[66] He increased the faculty from 112 to 174, most of whom he selected himself on the basis of their records as outstanding teachers. The curriculum guidelines he developed proved important progressive innovations in the field of higher education.[67] Wilson also made biblical studies a scholarly pursuit, appointed the first Jew and the first Roman Catholic to the faculty, and helped liberate the board from domination by conservative Presbyterians.[68]

To emphasize the development of expertise, Wilson instituted academic departments and a system of core requirements. Students were to meet for these in groups of six with preceptors, followed by two years of concentration in a selected major. He tried to raise admission standards and to replace the "gentleman's C" with serious study. Wilson aspired, as he told alumni, "to transform thoughtless boys performing tasks into thinking men".[69]

so its likely both his on-balance strong legacy at Princeton, and as President and Statesman is why.

[still_one]

11. Of course that is the reason, his links to Princeton and international policies, and that is why I

stated it in terms of the analogy I used with Pete Rose.

The question really evolves into one of balance I guess

[KamaAina]

10. Yale has the same issue with Calhoun College

One of our twelve residential colleges (dorms plus amenities like libraries, theaters, etc.) is named for slaveholder and secessionist John C. Calhoun, who I'd place in between Lee and Wilson on the spectrum described, a bit closer to Lee. Already the stained-glass windows depicting Calhoun's slaves have been removed. And who made that decision? Why, the master, of course. The heads of the colleges are called "masters"!

[1939]

14. You could also say the same of Lee

Post war, Lee could have gotten something cushy from some of the southerners not ruined financially by the war. Instead, he decided that the south needed educated men for rebuilding and formed soldiers needed educating. and took a post as head of the almost bankrupt Washington College and through hard work and low pay turned the college around. The hours he kept led to an early grave and the work was completed by his son, Custis. In gratitude, they changed the name of the college to Washington & Lee which represents his years of rebuilding the college and not his years leading a rebel army.

[Bettie]

13. He was a product of the time he lived in

you'll find few men of his time who did not share his general world view.

Being wrong by modern standards does not negate positive attributes and contributions of people who lived in a very different time.