Your Cart is Empty
Zach Gardner
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: On Wednesday, prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus, silenced in the middle of a debate with a liberal influencer. The killing was a horrific spectacle, both in its sheer violence and tragic symbolism. It was first a human tragedy, but it was also a tragedy for the idea that politics can, and must, be conducted through reasoned discussion. Here at Princeton, it has reignited the debate over the state and role of free speech on our campus.
Amelia Freund
Princetonians for Free Speech
My name is Amelia Freund and I am honored to be serving as President of the Princeton Open Campus Coalition (POCC) this year. An Army brat hailing from the DC-Maryland-Virginia area, I am a member of the great class of 2028, the Butler College Class Council, and the Politics Department. In high school I read On Liberty by John Stuart Mill several times over in my philosophy courses, each time I found it engaging and inspirational. I was particularly drawn in by Mill’s defense of free speech. He believed that for an idea to be true, it must be continuously discussed and debated, requiring broad protections for civic discourse. His argument resonated with me a great deal, and has carried me to countless engagements with freedom of speech since then, both in and out of the classroom.
Len Gutkin
Chronicle of Higher Education
Excerpt: In the summer of 2020, not long after the murder of George Floyd, the faculty and the president of Princeton University engaged in an especially long-winded instance of the political ritual common to the period. The president, Christopher L. Eisgruber, went first. Given “recent tragic events” and “the ongoing reality of oppression and violence against Black Americans,” Princeton “must examine all aspects of this institution — from our scholarly work to our daily operations — with a critical eye and a bias toward action.”
In his new book, Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right, Eisgruber calls this letter “one of the most controversial statements” of his presidency. He goes on: “I would myself frame some of it differently if I were writing today.”
Cynthia Torres
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: With the release of his latest book 12 years into his tenure, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 says he’s not done yet. “Right now, I feel energetic,” Eisgruber said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “I feel enthusiastic about the community of Princeton University and the mission of Princeton University.”
Every other Ivy League president has been replaced in the past two years, many of them forced out amid national firestorms. Columbia University has seen three presidents in a little over one year, and the leaders of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University resigned in quick succession following a December 2023 congressional hearing on antisemitism.
