It’s been another year of progress at our beloved Princeton University, as Old Nassau grows more inclusive and diverse with each incoming class. For Princetonians of conscience, the profoundly problematic legacy of Woodrow Wilson, our racist former president, remains a challenge, of course, and will forever — but ours is a vibrant community of scholars resolutely focused on the future. In this, we Tigers take deserved pride.

Nevertheless, we recognize at Princeton that social justice is a process, and grounds for self-criticism remain. As exams approached last semester, in mid December, a troubling incident occurred on campus that showed we are still falling short of our ideals.

The raccoon appeared at night, near Dillon Gym, a building erected in 1947 on the animal’s age-old habitat. (In press accounts of the events that followed, the creature was repeatedly referred to as a “masked marauder” or …