✔ Neptune voters asked to remove Woodrow Wilson's name from school
✔ The former U.S. President and NJ Governor was a notorious racist
✔ School will be renamed at a later date, if the ballot issue is approved

Efforts to scrub from history the names of individuals who were once celebrated for their accomplishments, but now vilified as racists, continues in New Jersey.

When voters in Neptune City go to choose our nation's next president, they will also be asked to remove the name of a former president from the municipality's only public school.

"Do you approve of removing the name of 'Woodrow Wilson' from the Neptune City School Building?

Neither the question nor the interpretive statement on sample ballots gives any reason why the question is being posed to voters.

The school building dates back nearly a century and was named after Wilson in 1929. The former president died in 1924 at the age of 67.

Wilson's history of bigotry

Born in Virginia, Wilson was an academic who came to New Jersey after being appointed president of Princeton University in 1902.

He was elected governor of New Jersey in 1910 and served until 1913 when he became the 28th President of the United States.

Wilson won the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at establishing the League of Nations and trying to prevent another world war.

He was also a notorious white supremacist who blocked admissions of Black students to Princeton and as U.S. president, brought back segregation to federal government offices that had been integrated.

Wilson vigorously defended segregation, and once proclaimed to the Black editor of a Boston newspaper, "Segregation is not humiliating, but a benefit, and ought to be so regarded by you."

Rethinking Wilson's legacy

Following years of debate, Princeton University dropped the name of Woodrow Wilson from its public policy school and residential college in 2020. It was a decision that the school had resisted for years but revisited following a swell in national support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Acknowledging Wilson's complex legacy, Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber said the former school leader is an "inappropriate namesake for a public policy school" because of his racism and segregationist policies.

READ MORE: Princeton has second thoughts and drops name of racist President Wilson

Also in 2020, Monmouth University stripped Wilson's name from The Great Hall at Shadow Lawn.

University President Patrick Leahy said at the time that Wilson was controversial and never actually set foot in the building.

"Removing his name, and incorporating these earlier names, connects the centerpiece of our campus more accurately to our historical roots and eliminates a symbolic barrier to the important work of creating a truly welcoming and inclusive space in the Great Hall, Leahy said.

Neptune City decides

It has taken a while for the issue to resurface in Neptune City.

Four years ago, Board of Education President Anthony Susino discussed the issue at a borough council meeting.

At the time, he said he believed the public should decide the issue. "Its their school," Susino said, "They should have a say."

Susino did say that he would support removing Wilson's name if that was what the public wanted.

Now, the public will have the final say when they enter the voting booth on Nov. 5.

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