October 31, 2024
1 min read
Siyeon Lee
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: There is a specter haunting Princeton’s campus — the specter of free speech. It’s a perennial topic that inserts itself into most social, cultural, and political events on campus, and one that’s been exhaustively reiterated as a core value of this University. Its loudest proponents often present it as a fully apolitical idea: a set of sacred rules all parties should uphold in all circumstances, regardless of ideological differences.
While conservatives often present “absolute free speech” as an apolitical neutral, its defense is often ideologically charged. The posing of free speech as a champion against “leftist dogmatism” not only detracts from the importance of truly effective free speech, but also rests on a fundamental contradiction: It relies on the perpetual existence of the leftist dogmatism it so despises.
Read More October 31, 2024
1 min read
John Londregan
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: At their upcoming Nov. 4 meeting, the faculty will take up a proposal requiring that any contested proposals made by colleagues be subject to a remote University-wide faculty vote.
Although this proposal — requiring that all faculty have the chance to weigh in on controversial policy changes — may seem like common sense, the status quo requires only the approval of a majority of those attending a meeting in person, typically a minuscule fraction of the more than 1,000 faculty employed by Princeton. I encourage my colleagues to come to the Nov. 4 faculty meeting to support the proposal.
Read More October 30, 2024
1 min read
Hope Perry ’24
Princeton Alumni Weekly
Excerpt: Princeton faculty present at a closed meeting Oct. 21 voted 166-156-7 to postpone votes on three controversial proposals related to faculty advocacy until the last scheduled faculty meeting of the academic year, on April 28, 2025, according to meeting minutes obtained by PAW.
Faculty meetings are typically held in Nassau Hall and are open to the campus press and other observers specified by the faculty’s rules. Two weeks before the meeting, the Faculty Advisory Committee on Policy (FACP), composed of six tenure track faculty members, unanimously voted to close the meeting to observers.
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Tom Williams '77
December 16, 2023
12/16/2023
Hello Fellow PU grads interested in free speech:
While we’ve been aware for some time of the “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others” attitude of Princeton’s officialdom, I find this recent outbreak of antisemitism to be particularly egregious. Attitudes toward Jews, which often also manifest themselves against Christians, are the obvious canary in the coal mine.
There is a serious problem here, namely, an inability of the Princeton administration to see itself as others see it. We may not be the worst offenders among the Ivy Universities, but it is disturbing to see the immediate bias.
I decry the loss of life in the Middle East on a regular basis. Israel is, as far as I know, the only truly democratic state in a sea of despotism. And I know that Israel’s military has made mistakes. But they abide by (or attempt to do so) normal military codes of international law. Do any of the other nations in the region even attempt to do the same?
I don’t see much hope for true peace in the Middle East until Israel’s right to exist is accepted and actual tolerance of other religions and viewpoints is accepted. It would also be helpful if the long, complicated history of armed conflict in the region would be viewed as an unfortunate past that is accepted rather than a litany of grievances that must drive conflict in the future. Please let us bury the hatchet and start from scratch.
Tom Williams’77