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We, the undersigned students, alumni, administration, faculty, and staff of Princeton University, call on President Eisgruber to condemn Senator Ted Cruz’s (’92) actions in undermining confidence in our democracy and upending the American tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. We also call for Princeton and the Committee on Naming to abstain from honoring his legacy on our campus. Senator Cruz's rhetoric and seditious actions have helped bring about one of the most shameful stains on American history.

The insurrection of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was incited by disproved conspiracy theories enflamed by President Trump and Senator Cruz. Senator Cruz’s decision to call for an unnecessary review of electoral votes, after a full rebuke by over 60 courts, puts the security of our democracy at grave risk. His decision to object to Joe Biden's certification as President-elect, even after he and his fellow lawmakers hid as the Capitol faced its first invasion since the War of 1812, deserves condemnation. It is antithetical not only to American democratic principles but to the fundamental values of the University community as well. As such, he deserves immediate condemnation from those who strive to protect our democracy and our Constitution. We call upon President Eisgruber and his esteemed expertise on the Constitution to serve our nation and humanity by joining in the rising call for condemnation of Senator Cruz, and to publicly affirm that Senator Cruz's actions are a disgrace to the University community. As President Eisgruber noted in his address on January 6, 2021, we have taken the peaceful transfer of power for granted. To quote, he says, “We must now actively cultivate what once seemed inevitable. We must rededicate ourselves to supporting and enacting the basic practices and values upon which our democracy and freedom depend.”

We, the writer and undersigned, believe that Senator Cruz’s support of lies alleging voting fraud not only undermines these basic egalitarian practices and values but is also directly linked to the attack on the Capitol. His objection to the Arizona certification defies these basic practices and values. His speech supporting these fabrications during the debate over the certification process defies these basic practices and values. Based on these lies and sent during the attack on our Capitol, his email for fundraising defies these basic practices and values. His vote against Arizona and Pennsylvania's certification after the deadly attack on the Capitol defies these basic practices and values. The events that occurred on January 6, 2021 were furthermore not sudden. Senior government officials warned Senator Cruz that his actions would contribute to the slow degradation of American democracy. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, articulated this most clearly when he proclaimed, “The voters, the courts, and the states have all spoken. They’ve all spoken. If we overrule them, it would damage our Republic forever.” Yet Senator Cruz stood behind these conspiracy theories. He voted to uphold lies over democracy, even after the Capitol came under attack by the very conspiracy theorists he enabled by his dangerous rhetoric.

As members of the Princeton community, we must remember that Senator Cruz's support of these lies goes against the precious separation of power that he himself draws upon for his Princeton thesis. President Eisgruber must assist in actively cultivating our culture and law surrounding the peaceful transfer of power. We ask that President Eisgruber’s condemnation of Senator Cruz draw upon Eisgruber’s status as an alumnus, a scholar of the Constitution, and as president and leader of the Princeton community. The desire for condemnation grows, as seen within Senator Cruz's very own class of 1992. Since this petition has begun, a separate joint statement from Princeton alumni calling for Senator Ted Cruz to resign has begun. Harvard Law, where Senator Cruz received his J.D., faces growing support of condemnation against Senator Cruz among their own students. Support for condemnation is also on the rise from Senator Josh Hawley’s Yale Law School for Senator Hawley's parallel actions.

We acknowledge that Princeton University asserts its position as a bastion of diverse political thought. We would be wise to recall President Eisgruber’s statement following the attack, “We all have a role to play.” The writer would like to suggest a variety of additional forms of condemnation that President Eisgruber may also consider, drawn from a diverse array of opinions:

• Demand the resignation of Senator Cruz from his office in the United States Senate. This is the opinion of the writer and many early observers of this document. Senator Cruz’s decision to support the lies surrounding voting fraud before, during, and after the assault on our Capitol is a betrayal of the integrity of the people’s vote. This, the writer believes, is sufficient grounds for his removal from one of the highest seats of power in our country.
• Demand that Senator Cruz recuses himself from participation in future elections. The writer and many early observers of this document believe his actions prove he is unfit to hold public office in this Republic.
• Consider rescinding his degree at Princeton University. Lehigh University has already revoked President Trump’s honorary degree.

Some of these forms of condemnation are symbolic. Others call for action. We leave it to President Eisgruber and the Princeton administration to determine the level of condemnation based upon its interpretation of the Princeton community's sentiment towards Senator Cruz’s actions. Yet condemnation is not enough. As a revered academic institution, Princeton must address our unique tie to Senator Cruz and the future of our relationship with him. This petition demands that Princeton does not provide honorary names to Senator Cruz and it calls upon the Committee on Naming to bar his name from any of the buildings and institutions under its power. Drawing from the Report of the Trustee Committee on Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy at Princeton, we note “the University remains vigilant in placing these representations into a much fuller context and that these representations do not become barriers to the pursuit of our goal of increased diversity and effective inclusion.”

Senator Cruz’s actions have legitimized a segment of the population to desecrate our Capitol. Their actions and response by police, broadcast to the entire world, yet again demonstrate the privilege whiteness carries in our country. The insurgents fearlessly invaded the very heart of our democracy. Washington D.C. and cities across the country were guarded to the teeth when black and brown people peacefully mobilized against the extrajudicial murdering of U.S. citizens by the police. Yet these mostly white insurgents entered the Capitol with weapons, damaged property, defaced the image of American democracy, and took selfies with the police along the way. These federally illegal actions saw little bloodshed compared to the carnage wrought by police this summer. People who demanded the right to live without fear of violence from those sworn to protect them faced preeminent militarization, brutal attacks on peaceful protestors and bystanders, countless arrests, and the continuation to this very day the brutalization of black and brown bodies. These insurgents genuinely believe that the country belongs under the control, not of its electorate, but the whims of a demagogue. Senator Cruz’s decision to validate lies of election fraud based on polling data, excluding any factual basis, ultimately voting against the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s presidency, emboldened these insurgents. Senator Cruz is culpable for the physical, political, and spiritual damage they have inflicted on our Capitol and our country.

As President Eisgruber noted in his reversal towards renaming SPIA and First College, “Princeton is part of an America that has too often disregarded, ignored and turned a blind eye to racism, allowing the persistence of systems that discriminate against black people.” The Board of Trustees made this decision because Wilson’s “racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school whose scholars, students, and alumni must be firmly committed to combating the scourge of racism in all its forms.” Senator Cruz’s validation of anti-democratic lies does not only parallel Woodrow Wilson’s blatant racial views. Senator Cruz’s support of lies designed to snub Americans’ votes is an action fundamentally tied to white privilege in the United States. Insurgents believing these lies defaced our democracy because they thought their voices were more important than the lawful votes cast by Americans. These insurgents attempted to overthrow an election where 91% of black voters voted for President-elect Biden. An election where Indigenous voters delivered a President-elect Biden victory in Arizona. An election where black voters carried essential cities, including Philadelphia and Atlanta. To say the attack on the U.S. Capitol was not rooted in racism is to ignore racism’s deep roots in the United States. It is ignoring racist remarks and poisonous thinking that President Trump has validated among his supporters. It ignores the ease at which these rioters entered the Capitol. It ignores the full weight of our increasingly militarized and belligerent police forces falling upon the peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors in the summer of 2020. It ignores Senator Cruz’s role in selling the lies that brought about one of the most disgraceful attacks in our country’s history.

Princeton University should uphold its own professed values by preemptively barring Senator Cruz’s name from our campus and community’s honors. We remind Princeton community members that Senator Cruz’s actions endangered the very heart of our democracy. From his time at Princeton to his role in the Senate, Senator Cruz has made it his life's work to study and serve the Constitution. His decision to support lies of election fraud and his role in the invasion of one of the three pillars of the American government is at severe odds with his position as a senator in our democracy. This insurrection depended on lies sponsored by members of the elected Congress and is an incredible reminder of the fragility of democracy. The fragility of OUR democracy.

As members of an institution that sends so many alumni to the highest levels of power, authority, and footnotes of history, we should make it known that Princeton University does not support these seditious actions and refuses to honor a man who has acted against his country.

The writer, as all of those undersigned, has their own vision of what steps should be taken by Princeton in response to Senator Ted Cruz’s actions. However, the unifying message of all those who sign is this: We demand that President Eisgruber condemn Senator Cruz for his perpetuation of lies surrounding voting fraud before, during, and after the attack on our Capitol. We demand that Princeton does not provide honorary names to Senator Cruz and we call upon the Committee on Naming to bar his name from any buildings and institutions under its power.