Generational African American students build a community on campus – The Daily Princetonian

Sajan Rhea Young ’24 has a connection to Princeton going back 250 years — but not because he’s a legacy student.

Young’s ancestors hail from Rheatown, a small community in eastern Tennessee that was named for Congressman John Rhea, Class of 1780. Rhea was one of more than 1,800 members of Congress who owned enslaved people.

“The ‘Rhea’ in my middle name actually comes from a place called Rheatown, Tennessee, where all of the slaves…