Cleveland devoted much of his energies to Princeton University, where he was named a lecturer in public affairs in 1899. He moved to the Princeton, New Jersey area on the suggestion of his friend and professor Andrew West. He bought a nice estate there and named it “Westlake” after his friend. A few years later, he served on the university’s board of trustees. The press sometimes dubbed him “The Sage of Princeton.” He quarreled with Princeton president and future Democratic president Woodrow Wilson over the location of a graduate school.