A Princeton University professor has alleged that portraits of former department chairs were quietly removed because they depicted only white men.

The unnamed professor made the claims in an interview with journalist Christopher Rufo, during which he discussed antisemitism on the college’s campus as well as its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.

“Anti-Semitism is really a symptom of a deeper malaise at Princeton, which is that the university decided to go woke,” the professor said. He pointed to a statement made by Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber near the end of President Trump’s first term, in which Eisgruber declared the university to be “systemically racist.” 

“But if we have been systemically racist, it’s been against whites, Jews, Asians, and Indians, in favor of other demographics. We’ve always been told that we have to give special treatment to women and certain demographic minorities,” the professor claimed.

He noted that 70 percent of the university’s faculty is white and claimed that department “search officers” were instructed that future hiring must reflect the racial composition of the student body.

The professor specifically referenced one science department, where portraits of every department chair over the past 70 years had been displayed – until being suddenly taken down.

“One day, all the pictures disappeared,” he said. “The administration had removed them from the wall because someone found it objectionable that all these white men should be staring down at them. And yet, a number of those men were key in bringing black students to Princeton in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. But none of that history matters: it’s just a bunch of white faces, so they removed all the photographs, and no one objected—no one.”

He also criticized President Eisgruber directly and called for legal action against the university.

“I want this university severely punished for its unlawful behavior,” the professor said. “I want discovery; I want all the emails to come out that will make it very evident that this university was engaged in illegal discrimination. I want President Eisgruber subpoenaed before Congress to have to account for not only anti-Semitism, but for DEI and for the ‘systemic racism’ arguments that he’s made. I want him to be publicly put on the stand. That’s what ultimately will deeply embarrass this university.”