We walk on a breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of

unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

Princeton University is considering a petition signed by nearly 300 members of the campus

community to remove a statue of John Witherspoon.

According to the petition, quote,

"...pang such honored as someone who participated actively in the enslavement of human beings, and

used to scholarly gifts to defend the practice, is today a distraction from the university's

mission."

In place of the statute, the petition requests that an informational plaque be created to

describe both the positive and negative aspects of Witherspoon's legacy.

Witherspoon was one of the university's most important presidents, and one of the most

important, though less known, of America's founders.

He accepted the presidency of the College of New Jersey in 1768.

The Presbyterian School would not be renamed Princeton until 1896.

Most immediately, Witherspoon faced a series of serious problems at the school.

Through a combination of fundraising in New Jersey and Scotland, updating the curriculum

based on the University of Edinburgh, purchasing maps and scientific instruments for the university,

and expanding the library, including contributing 300 of his own books, he transformed the school,

into a thriving and significant institution.

In addition to his leadership at such a crucial time in their school's history, Witherspoon

taught courses in rhetoric, history, and divinity.

...