Call Hugin’s fight against women’s inclusion at Princeton ‘permanent stain’ disqualifying him from ever representing NJ
New Brunswick, NJ – A group of 88 prominent female leaders from across New Jersey issued the following statement in response to reports of greedy drug company CEO Bob Hugin’s troubling pattern of intolerance, including when he actively fought against women’s inclusion at Princeton University. As an undergrad, Hugin also led a petition drive to force the university to reverse its decision to extend anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ students and said if a member of his exclusive, all-male Tiger Inn eating club was gay, “he wouldn’t last long.”
“It is outright appalling that Bob Hugin actively fought against women joining his exclusive, all-male Princeton University eating club while serving as its alumni board President. It cannot be tolerated by any individual seeking to represent New Jersey.
“The breadth of Mr. Hugin’s opposition is astonishing. When the New Jersey Supreme Court ended the social club’s discriminatory policy and opened the doors to women, he called the decade-long fight for inclusion ‘politically correct fascism.’ But Hugin didn’t stop there. After his Tiger Inn was forced to accept women in 1991, Hugin went to federal court in hopes of preserving ‘the right to determine our own membership.’ And when his legal efforts to discriminate against women failed again, Hugin expressed disappointment, insisting ‘we had a strong case and a high probability of winning.’
“Mr. Hugin cannot claim that these were the mere actions of a young, naive student. These were the calculated attempts of a grown man. Bob Hugin was in his mid-to-late 30s and married when he waged his delusional war to subjugate women and preserve the glory days of male dominance he so fondly enjoyed as an undergrad. Most damningly, because women had already been admitted as members of Tiger Inn, Mr. Hugin’s federal lawsuit sought both to exclude women from joining and to purge current female members. He spent at least a year in litigation attempting to undo a New Jersey Supreme Court injunction so he could satisfy his discriminatory impulses.
“Bob Hugin’s actions raise serious questions about his ability to lead and represent New Jersey in the United States Senate. This is a permanent stain in his personal history, only reinforced by the millions he’s continued to donate to anti-choice candidates and organizations. Bob Hugin donated the maximum allowable to Donald Trump—a candidate notorious for his misogyny and bragging of sexually assaulting women—served as his state finance chair and a Trump delegate to the Republican National Committee. It shows a lifelong pattern of intolerance that suggests he would oppose equal pay and workplace rights for women. A photo released last month by his campaign with Hugin and his 14 interns most noticeably included no women in sight.
“As when his company paid $280 million in settlement fees for price-gouging cancer patients, Mr. Hugin must be held accountable for his actions. If conservative reactionaries such as Ryan Bounds can be disqualified as a federal judge for past discriminatory writings, voters should disqualify Bob Hugin as a Senate candidate for his gender-based discrimination. He cannot be counted on to represent 9 million New Jerseyans, more than half of whom are women. Time’s up, Mr. Hugin. You will not be representing us.”
Signed,
Afsheen Shamsi, Steering Committee Member, NJDSC South Asian American Caucus
Alison Arne, Atlantic County Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Amie Maria, Cumberland/Salem County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Amy DeGise, Chair, Hudson County Democratic Organization
Analilia Mejia, Executive Director, New Jersey Working Families Alliance
Andrea Smith, Cape May County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Angela Bardoe, Cumberland/Salem County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Angela McKnight, Assemblymember
Angelica Jimenez, Assemblymember
Annette Quijano, Assemblymember
Anita Esteve, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Ann Twomey, President, Health Professionals and Allied Employees
Anna Maria Tejada, Past President, Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey
Anna Wong, Northeast Regional Director, Action Together New Jersey
Arlene Quinones Perez, Chair, Hunterdon County Democratic Committee
Ashley Henderson, President, Princeton Marching Forward
Barbra Casbar Siperstein, Gender Rights Advocacy Association of NJ
Caitlin Sherman, Hudson County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Careen DeAndrea Lazarus, Passaic County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Carmen Salavarrieta, Angels in Action
Cathy Brienza, JOLT USA
Caty Polanco, Latin American Democratic Association
Cheryl Marciano, Warren County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Christina Zuk, Vice President, New Jersey Young Democrats
Christine Clarke, Environmental Director, Action Together New Jersey
Christine Elias, Gloucester County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Deb Huber, President, NOW-NJ
Devon Mazza, Ocean County Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Donna M Chiera, President, AFTNJ
Dr. Hetal Gor, Advisory Board, NJDSC South Asian American Caucus
Dr. Khyati Y. Joshi, Professor, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Edina Brown, Councilmember, Old Bridge
Elizabeth Cano, Union County Latina Activist
Elizabeth Meyer, Founder, NJ Women’s March
Erin Chung, President and Founder, Women for Progress
Estina Baker, CWA District 1
Gail Black, Statewide Jewish Women’s Advocate
Hetty Rosenstein, CWA
Iris Perrot, Warren County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Jaci Jones, President, Middlesex County Federation of Democratic Women
Jackie Low, Bergen County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Jeanne Fox, Esq., Former BPU President
Jeanne Jordan, Gloucester County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Jill Rhodes, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Joan Jacobsen, Sussex County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Joan Quigley, Former President of the State Junior Women’s Clubs
Joann Downey, Assemblymember
Kellie Davidson, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Kelly Shea, Warren County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Laurel Brennan, Secretary-Treasurer, New Jersey State AFL-CIO
Lauren Nicosia, Women’s Health Advocate
Lenace Edwards, SEIU 32BJ
Leslie Huhn, Chair, Sussex County Democratic Committee
Linda Sloan Locke, CNM,LSW
Lindsay Campbell, President, Sussex County NOW
Lisa Anderson, Sussex County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Lisa Bonanno, Gloucester County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Lizette Delgado-Polanco, Vice Chair, New Jersey State Democratic Committee
Marcia Marley, BlueWave NJ
Margaret Weinberger, President, Somerset County Federation of Democratic Women
Megan Coyne, President, College Democrats of New Jersey
Mildred Scott, Sheriff, Middlesex County
Nancy Pinkin, Assemblywoman
Nedia Morsy, Make the Road Action
Pamela Brug, Union County Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Pamela Renee, Councilwoman, Neptune City
Pat Perkins Auguste, Councilwoman, Elizabeth
Patricia Campos, LUPE PAC
Patricia Soteropoulos, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Patricia Teffenhart, Gender Equity Advocate
Patti Douglass, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Peg Schaffer, Chair, Somerset County Democratic Committee
Phyllis Salowe-Kay
Rachel Barry, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Regina Keelan, Democratic Municipal Chair, Atlantic Highlands
Nadia Hussain, Passaic County Director, NJDSC South Asian American Caucus
Safanya Searcy, Labor Leader and Community Activist
Saily M. Avelenda, Esq., Attorney and Activist
Sara Cullinane, Make the Road Action
Shanel Robinson, Deputy Mayor, Franklin Township
Shanti Narra, Middlesex County Freeholder
Shelly Morningstar, Morris County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Stephanie Silvera, Passaic County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Susan Lavine Coleman, Burlington County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Tammi Bathke, Burlington County Co-Chair, Action Together New Jersey
Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblywoman
Winn Khuong, Executive Director, Action Together New Jersey
Yvonne Lopez, Assemblymember
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