The Muslim Advocates for Social Justice & Individual Dignity started an online a petition Wednesday night calling for the University Board of Trustees to denounce New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s endorsement of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Christie is an ex officio member of the University Board of Trustees.
According to the circulated letter, Christie “has a responsibility to consider the effects of Trump’s politics on the wellbeing and futures of the students of this university.”
“Governor Christie’s support of Trump indicates approval of his vitriolic rhetoric, which has had violent consequences for the most vulnerable members of society,” the letter reads.
MASJID believes that silence from the trustees “implies complicity” in Trump’s controversial statements, according to the letter.
As of Thursday, the petition has already gained close to 500 signatures after being out for less than a day, which speaks to how the University student body does not agree with Trump’s message, nor the endorsement of it, according to Robia Amjad ’18, president of MASJID.
The group’s former president Farah Amjad ’16 added that the letter and petition will also go out to professors and administrators.
Zeena Mubarak ’17 noted that Christie’s endorsement of Trump stands in opposition to the ideologies of the University.
Mubarak is an columnist for The Daily Princetonian.
“[Trump] is invested basically in creating an American society… dominated by able-bodied, heterosexual men and that doesn’t seem ideal,” Mubarak noted. “Princeton prides itself on creating a diverse community and allowing students [from a variety of backgrounds to] com[e] together on this campus, so there’s no way those two ideas can coexist.”
Farah Amjad explained that MASJID is a group for Muslim students to get involved in social justice issues and political advocacy and is separate from the non-political Muslim Students Association. The group was started by doing collaborative work with Students for Prison Education and Reform, the Princeton Committee on Palestine and the DREAM Team, according to Robia Amjad.
“This academic year we got more involved with doing our own initiatives,” she said.
The letter is part of these initiatives, as are giving support for refugees and holding vigils for victims of hate crimes, she added.
Mubarak noted that Christie stands out from other political figures because of his ties to the University and that the trustees play an important role in facilitating a University community.
“It didn’t seem right for someone who is supporting such racist and xenophobic statements to be in the position where he’s supposed to be in charge of fostering a community for diverse students. But instead he’s supporting someone who wants to have us wear IDs,” Amjad said.
Eric Fung ’18 said he believes that Christie is within his right to endorse the Trump campaign.
“Denouncing Christie's endorsement would inherently make an endorsement for the other candidates in the field. Gov. Christie, here, is acting as an individual: he is supporting Trump.”
Fung added that other people in this country also support Trump.
“I'm not going to try to limit a person's First Amendment rights because I disagree with him on a fundamental level... I think it is a waste of time to take some sort of legal action against Christie,” he said.
Fung added that disapproval of Christie’s endorsement should be expressed should Christie run for reelection, and in the meantime the trustees should stay neutral.
Mubarak noted that Christie’s endorsement of the Trump campaign is thus an endorsement of Trump’s controversial ideologies.
“It’s not simply an endorsement; he’s really adding to the hostile environment that has led to many hate crimes,” she said.
His endorsement of Trump is not just a statement; it actively supports an increase in crimes, according to Mubarak.
“It’s also striking that, because Gov. Christie is on our board, there has been no statement regarding his endorsement of Trump,” Farah Amjad said.
She added that the concerning lack of comment from the University and the trustees was a motivation for them to circulate the letter and petition.
Robia Amjad added that Trump's recent comment, “I think Islam hates us,” in an interview with CNN adds to a portrait of a danger dichotomy that separates Muslims from Americans.
“It’s not just about denouncing Christie’s endorsement, but [the trustees] haven’t affirmed a sense of belonging of not only Muslims but also other minorities that have been singled out by Trump,” Farah Amjad said.
Paul Draper ’18, president of Princeton University College Republicans, said that the MASJID petition is inappropriate, and that for the University to favor or condemn a presidential candidate would go against its neutrality as an educational institution.
“That would be an overly political move, and we as students should not be pressuring the University leadership to do so,” he added.
According to The Washington Post, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson also plans to endorse Trump.
University Media Relations Specialist Min Pullan referred comment to Robert Durkee ’69, vice president and secretary of the University.
Durkee was unavailable for request for comment.
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