Black History Month: Looking back from 1792 to 1950s
Shriya SekhsariaRace relations at the University have transformed significantly from a time when admitted students were turned away because of their race to a time when multiple diversity initiatives and ad hoc committees have been created to make students feel comfortable on campus. According to sources, the history of African-American students at the University has been complex starting from 1792. 1792: The potentially first African-American University student Although John Chavis, a young African-American man, was nominated for the Leslie Fund Scholarship set aside for poor and pious students who wanted to get a Presbyterian education, he does not appear in contemporary class rolls, andthere are no records of him having ever attended the University. Melvin McCray ’74, who has spent considerable time preserving campus African-American history, said Chavis’ nomination for the Leslie Fund Scholarship is recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Trustees in 1792. “All the history in his family places him at Princeton as a student,” McCray said.
