The White House has opened an investigation into Princeton University, accusing it of civil rights violations after its president admitted racism exists at the school.
Earlier this month, Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber published a letter to the university community in which he acknowledged that the university has and continues to be shaped by systemic racism.
"Racism and the damage it does to people of color nevertheless persist at Princeton as in our society, sometimes by conscious intention but more often through unexamined assumptions and stereotypes, ignorance or insensitivity, and the systemic legacy of past decisions and policies," he wrote, underscoring also that for most of Princeton's history, the university "intentionally and systematically excluded people of color, women, Jews, and other minorities."
"Racist assumptions from the past also remain embedded in structures of the University itself," he added, noting that, for example, Princeton has at least nine departments and programs organized around European languages and culture, but only a single, relatively small program in African studies.
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