Ex-NY Supreme Court Judge, 83, Turned Away By Princeton As Youth Returns As Honorary Grad

After he was turned away from Princeton University 65 years ago because of the color of his skin, Justice Bruce M. Wright was recently embraced as an honorary member of Princeton's graduating class of 2001.

In 1939 Wright, whose father is Black and mother is White, received a full scholarship to the prestigious Princeton University but was rejected when he arrived for registration.

After making face-to-face contact with the then teenager, officials of the university told Wright that they felt he would be more comfortable going to school elsewhere.

Wright, 83, told JET that after he was snubbed by the university his self-esteem was destroyed. "My morale was zero," he said. "I was heartbroken because my family had no money to pay tuition."

Even though Justice Wright never argued the school's bold decision, he did ask why he was not allowed to register. In a letter dated June 13, 1939, Radcliffe Heermance, the director of admission, wrote that, "Princeton University does not discriminate against any race, color or creed ...

"There are no colored students in the university and a member of your race might feel very much alone. ... My personal experience would enforce my advice to any colored student that he would be happier in an environment of others of his own race."

Born in Princeton, NJ, and reared in Harlem, NY, Bruce M. Wright went on to graduate from Lincoln University, the first Black university in the country, and New York Law School.

After working for the law firm Porskauer Rose, where he represented such jazz legends as Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Max Roach, Wright served as a criminal and civil lawyer from 1970 to 1982. He was later elected as a justice to the New York Supreme Court.

Justice Wright stepped down from the bench six years ago.

During Princeton's class day celebration Theodore Nemeroff, a student government official who proposed Justice Wright for the honor, told his fellow classmates, "This recognition and welcome are long overdue."

Other recipients acknowledged as honorary members of class day were famed comedian Bill Cosby, departing university president Harold T. Shapiro and incoming president Shirley M. Tilghman.