Looking back at Brown v. Board

In 1870, Harvard's first black graduate received his degree. In 1874, Yale's first got his.

In 1909, an African-American prospective was told it was "inadvisable" for him to attend Princeton. Years later, a black student the University believed was white was turned away at registration. Not until 1947 — three-quarters of a century after Harvard and Yale — did Princeton have its first black graduate, John Howard. On the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board, decided May 17, 1954, we're looking back at the significance of the case, what it meant and means for America and for Princeton. Brown eliminated the doctrine of "separate but equal" that was the rule at Princeton until a decade before the Court's decision.

Princeton has changed much since then. We now have students from all over the world, with all sorts of interests and backgrounds.

My freshman year quad looked like an ideal admissions viewbook: me, a smart-enough white kid from Charlotte, N.C.; a religious Hispanic aspiring engineer from Sarasota, Fla., with a taste for literature; an African American from Niagara Falls, N.Y. who'd spent a year in France; and an Asian engineer from just outside Princeton who'd played piano at Carnegie Hall. Though that room was hardly the norm, it says something about how much Princeton has progressed.

Cultural diversity has its problems. Students who aren't into the Street's pulsing beats and rowdy taprooms can have trouble figuring out where they fit in. Gay students often feel ostracized. Some minorities feel the school they were promised in the viewbook — the open community where students from all backgrounds readily find a place — simply isn't the school they attend. If you ask them, you'll find they agree with a 1910 guidebook's assessment of the University: "The aim of Princeton is homogeneity."

The administration has done much to make Princeton an option for everyone. Princeton was the first school to abolish loans from the financial aid package. It pursues talented students who might not otherwise consider Princeton from all areas of the country and in all disciplines — most recently the arts.

In the next three days, we'll look at what has changed since Brown, and how we should go forward.

On Wednesday, Trustee Emeritus and President and CEO of the Knight Foundation Hodding Carter III '57 will give a sense of how Princeton has changed since 1954, when he enrolled as a freshman.

Thursday, Black Student Union President Leslie-Bernard Joseph '06 will give his view on minority-majority relations at Princeton.

And on Friday, religion professor Eddie S. Glaude will examine America's commitment to the case's outcome.

In 1943, the 'Prince' ran a series of editorials under the headline "White Supremacy at Princeton," urging the University to accept black students. The University didn't do it, but it started a conversation that had been carefully stifled before. How could Princeton be in the nation's service if it refused to admit qualified black students?

The place of diversity in education remains a contentious issue. When people talk about diversity, they can be talking about almost anything. What sort of diversity should we be pursuing at Princeton? How should it be done? I want to know what you think. Send 200 words or less to letters@dailyprincetonian.com. I'll publish your responses this Friday. You can reach Jonathan Williams at jlwillia@princeton.edu.