Princeton University

University will be exploring a new “degree-granting program” that will "extend Princeton’s teaching to a new range of students from communities disproportionately affected by systemic racism and other forms of disadvantage."

Following the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, Princeton's President stated, "Diversity is essential to the excellence of this University and to the future of our country and the world" so, "Princeton will pursue it with energy, persistence, and a determination to succeed despite the restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court in its regrettable decision today."

The University states it "will do all it can to support undocumented and DACA students to the maximum extent that the law allows, and will also provide appropriate support for DACA faculty and staff." Some of the measures include "funding attorney consultations for DACA students, faculty, and staff with an immigration law firm," "payment of DACA renewal filing fees," and financial support if one's DACA status affects employment.

Human Resources and the Office of the Provost offer several trainings, workshops and online resources for faculty and staff related to diversity, equity and inclusion, including 'Mitigating Bias in the Hiring Life Cycle,' 'Inclusive Mentoring' and 'Interrupting Bias in the Academic Search Process'."

During orientation, the Class of 2025 was the first to engage with a "training module designed to facilitate discussions of the University’s racist history and the power of student activism." During the training module, "residential college advisers (RCAs) led their first-years through explorations of the virtual gallery and discussions on how to navigate conversations around race and identity."

Princeton's Office of Human Resources offers unconscious bias courses for faculty and staff including "The Power and Impact of Unconscious Bias and Micro Messages for Employees" and "The Power and Impact of Unconscious Bias for Managers."

Per the recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on Racial Equity and Diversity-Related Professional Development, the University has committed to "mandate training for certain student workers and leaders, faculty with formal roles in hiring/search committees and graduate student admission, and all employees" and provide "an array of DEI offerings for students, and further embedding of DEI learning into existing faculty trainings/workshops."

During orientation, all students are placed into small groups, which include the "Dialogue and Difference in Action" group. The group "engages students in critical dialogues focused on identity, power, privilege, and difference." It is led by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

The university announced, "A new general education distribution requirement in the area of culture and difference was established for undergraduates."

The Center for Teaching and Learning states "Structural racism is often described as behaviors and assumptions that seem normal, even as 'the very air we breathe,' or as a 'banality' and so possibly difficult at first to recognize or identify" and continues, "there is a complex and long history of racial exclusion in American higher education but we can actively counteract this history by fostering inclusive teaching practices in our classrooms." It concludes, "Creating anti-racist classrooms is integral to this work and is essential for ensuring that all students in our community can learn effectively." 

Students are required to take a "Culture and Difference" class, per the Undergraduate General Education requirements.

Students can "file a formal report or complaint of bias, discrimination or harassment online," which is "directed to the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity."

During the "New Faculty Institute," new hires attend a session on "Principles of Equitable and Inclusive Teaching."

This webpage seeks to unveil Princeton’s roots in activism and intersectionality. They state, “for generations, Princeton students have used protest and other forms of activism to stand up for intersectional equity, inclusion, peace, and justice,” following the statement with the university’s history of activism and intersectionality which began in the 1940s when “a group of white, male students formed the Liberal Union, which fought for the admission of Black students to Princeton."

A "Racial Healing Circle" was held to "help communities build relationships that support healing from the effects of racism."

RISE Fellowship program established for students and faculty who want to research systemic racism, anti-racism, racial justice, and the history of anti-racist movements.

The university announced, "Twelve scholars from across the disciplines have been named Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellows for academic year 2021-22. They will be the third cohort of fellows appointed at Princeton with the aim of enhancing diversity in the professoriate."

In the midterm report of May of 2022, it was announced that this year, Princeton received a major gift which allowed for the establishment of the Effron Center for the Study of America, which supports “teaching and research on America from diverse interdisciplinary perspectives."

The academic and administrative departments at Princeton University are “actively engaged or invested in collaboration with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).” They are committed to encouraging “collaborations [that] may help build networks that expand representation of Black and other people of color in academic and administrative pipelines at Princeton and elsewhere; create student exchanges; and/or promote scholarly interactions.” Their efforts are a reflection of the university’s commitment to” racial equity and anti-racism requires recognition of HBCUSs and other MSIs important role in supporting student success and scholarly excellence as well as the ways these sister institutions have been inequitably resourced historically.”

Princeton University Keller Center has designed a program “for faulty, postdocs, and staff in the school of Engineering focused on the intersection of race and racism with engineering, technology, and innovation.” This program is a cohort-based and will run from December 2022 through May 2023 and will focus on education, community, and support towards action.

The school's Humanities Council "strategically incubates projects that examine systemic racism, and the inequality and injustice it engenders" and outlines its 2021-2022 "Council-Funded Initiatives" including "Visualizing the Medical Legacies of British Colonialism" and "Race, Race-Thinking, and Identity in the Middle Ages and Medieval Studies."

The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning provides "Inclusive Pedagogy Grants," which "support the revision of an element of a course... to more strongly reflect equitable and inclusive teaching practices." The grantees will receive $1,800.

Students may apply for "mini-grants" (up to $1,000) to fund Campus Conversations on Identities events. However, signature events such as "a public lecture/workshop" may receive up to $10,000. Previous events include "Asian in America Conference, Intersectionality in STEM, Black Justice League Student Activism Panel, and Northeast Queer and Trans People of Color (NEQTPoC) Conference."

The Princeton Histories Fund was established to encourage the exploration of "aspects of Princeton’s history that have been forgotten, overlooked, subordinated, or suppressed.” The school encourages "projects that examine individuals or groups that have been historically underrepresented or that existed on the margins of intellectual and social life at Princeton." Up to $20,000 in funding is available to "faculty, academic professionals, and staff."

The University has several "College Access & Success" programs that "support the expansion of opportunity for high-achieving, low-to-moderate income students (and traditionally underrepresented students)" to access education. For example, the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) and the W.E.B. DuBois Scholars Institute.

The Princeton Prize in Race Relations awards high school students "who have worked to advance racial equity in their communities." Recipients receive "an award of $1,000."

The university announced, "The Department of Public Safety (DPS) has convened the Public Safety Community Advisory Committee — made up of faculty, undergraduates, administrators and graduate students — to provide feedback, advice and suggestions for how Public Safety can best serve the University community."

The Princeton Police Department policy states that all police officers receive "anti-bias and bias incident training."

"Wintersession", an event commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will feature a roundtable discussion on "race and racism at Princeton University" and a virtual gallery titled "To Be Known and Heard: Systemic Racism and Princeton University".

There is a "new Inclusive Leadership Learning Cohort in the Graduate School."

The university said, "Princeton has also made a commitment to conduct an external review of its racial equity and broader diversity initiatives every four years. This process will help the University to assess the impact of all its activities towards its goals synergistically. The first external review will take place in academic year 2024-25."

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Princeton University Library has published a guide of different recourses that highlight and “speak to the contributions of Hispanic leaders and communities.”

Step by Step: The March Towards Equal Employment Opportunity was “jointly developed by Princeton University Library (PUL) and the IR section” to create an exhibit aimed at “highlight[ing] the political origins of antidiscrimination in the workplace.”

The school's Academic Inclusion page lists all of the its departments that have "Standing Diversity, Equity, Climate and Inclusion Committees." (This list includes twenty-eight departments in total.)

The school's Office of the Provost published its Institutional Equity and Diversity resource guide for addressing systemic racism and offers its recommendations for "Anti-Racism Initiatives," "Anti-Racism Best Practices," "Teaching" and several other related topics. The guide also states that "Systemic racism cannot be reduced to individual prejudice and cannot be effectively addressed by focusing on the values or conduct of individual people. Best practices for rooting out systemic inequities involve identifying questions that can be rigorously explored through data driven answers."

The school's Racial Equity website lists many of its "Academic Initiatives" and states that "Princeton University’s academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs are committing to advancing racial equity, access, diversity, inclusion, and belonging within their communities and disciplines."

The school's Office of Diversity and Inclusion offers "Social Justice Retreats" which are "intensive, in-depth, and hands on experiences where students can focus on their own learning and development to increase their multicultural competencies and effectiveness as social justice change agents."

In an April 2024 report titled “No Graduation Without Indoctrination: The DEI Course Mandate,” the organization Speech First “investigated 248 colleges and universities across each state” and found that “[more] than two-thirds include DEI academic requirements,” including Princeton University. According to the report (pg. 20), Princeton's "Body, Culture, Power" course "delves into the enduring legacies of White Supremacy within societal structures, with a particular focus on the systemic nature of racism and oppression" and "teaches that white individuals are imbued with inherent biases, contributing to pervasive racial inequalities."

The Center for Teaching and Learning states "diversity and inclusion is an essential part of its mission." Furthermore, it provides "information on the diversity of Princeton’s student body and suggestions large and small to make courses equitable and inclusive."

Campus Conversations on Identities initiative supports "a series of public programs about identity and difference." Conversations have been focused on "anti-Black racism, police brutality, Black experiences on college campuses, and healing and community building for Black students at Princeton."

The Supplier Diversity Program was established to "engage with businesses owned by minorities, women, LGBT individuals, and veterans."

The Inclusive Teaching at Princeton Initiative provides resources for inclusive teaching and aims "to assist all teachers and learners to engage more meaningfully with the diversity in their classrooms." The initiative sponsors events such as  “Responsible Teaching in a Violent Culture,” "Just Teaching: Why Inclusive Classrooms and Campuses Matter,” and “Widening the Pipeline: Inclusive Teaching for a Diverse Scientific Workforce.”  

Renaming of the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs.

The university said, "The Ad Hoc Committee on Principles to Govern Renaming and Changes to Campus Iconography was broadly charged with developing general principles to govern questions about when and under what circumstances it might be appropriate for the University to remove or contextualize the names and representations of individuals present on the Princeton campus."

In an effort to “develop general principles to govern questions about when and under what circumstances it might be appropriate got the University to remove or contextualize the names and representatives of historical individuals honored on the Princeton campus,” Princeton has aligned itself with the recommendations released by the Trustee Ad Hoc Committee to Govern Naming and Changes to Campus Iconography. In doing so, Princeton has added community-oriented artwork within Prospect House and sections of Nassau Hall, but this is not the end as an announcement is soon to come regarding “additional honorific naming opportunities on campus.”

On the racial equity site, the University releases an annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion report. The racial equity site states, "building on past progress, we must make even greater investments in initiatives that support demographic evolution, sense of belonging, access and outreach, and scholarly innovation."