Help Black Princeton Senior Afford Legal Counsel

Imani Rhea Mulrain, a senior at Princeton University, has excelled academically with a 3.7 GPA and has been involved in various campus activities. She worked as an Academic Tutor, teaching molecular biology and the R programming language, and was a member of two black dance companies. As the first person in her family to be born a US citizen and graduate from an Ivy League institution, she was honored to be chosen as the official Class Speaker for Princeton's Pan-African Graduation ceremony.

Despite her achievements, Imani faced challenges, including severe medical hardships, which she communicated to university administrators. One significant issue arose in a graduate classical music course. The course had structural inconsistencies, class times were changed arbitrarily, and the syllabus lacked grade calculation explanations. Imani, with a background in Caribbean styles, wanted to challenge herself but faced bias from the professor. He not only dismissed her valid absences but also demeaned her intellect and musical knowledge. The professor gave her a failing grade and opened a case for disciplinary action to be taken against her, falsely accusing her of academic dishonesty. Imani appealed to the University but received no support from her Dean. Though the investigation currently poses little threat to her academic standing, due to the considerable evidence in her favor, it is the delays in the appeal process against a failing grade that has jeopardized Imani's graduation status.

Due to this crisis, Imani withdrew from the Medical School Application cycle and declined a job offer, causing financial and emotional distress. However, Imani has shown resilience and we hope for awareness to be spread so she can receive support from friends, family, and the larger Black Princeton community.

This GoFundMe post is to help assist Imani in seeking legal counsel and affording attorney fees. Efforts are now underway to raise funds for legal action and support Imani's cost of living expenses as she recovers from these challenges.

The full story will soon be posted below, and we have submitted a guest contribution to the Daily Princeton which we hope will be published in the coming days.

UPDATE (MAY 29, 2023): As of May 29th, 2023, the University has not processed Imani’s grade appeal nor updated her “Failed to Qualify” graduation status. Consequently, she is not eligible to receive her degree during this year’s Commencement Ceremony on Tuesday May 30th, nor will her name be in the Commencement program. This is despite Princeton’s department of Chemistry certifying that Imani has successfully completed all requirements to earn the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and conferring her this certificate on May 29th, 2023. Imani also received departmental honors and was inducted into the Sigma Xi Research Society by the Chemistry Department today.