December 18, 2024
1 min read
Abby Leibowitz
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: A month after Donald Trump’s reelection and the red wave that swept down-ballot elections in New Jersey and across the United States, public policy lecturer Lynda Dodd joined Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey, for a private presentation held at the Princeton Public Library on Dec. 15. They discussed New Jersey’s potential to build “firewalls of freedom” — safeguards based on actions that governors, attorney generals, and statewide officials can take locally to protect communities made vulnerable by potential Trump policies.
Indivisible Princeton, a local chapter of the organization Indivisible formed by Ezra Levin GS ’13 in 2017 in response to Trump’s first election, hosted the event as its ”relaunch meeting.”
Read More December 16, 2024
1 min read
Michelle Miao and Nate Howard
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: Since Nov. 5, Princeton commentators from across the political spectrum have misrepresented progressive Kamala Harris supporters.
On one hand, columnist Julianna Lee ’25 wrote a well-intentioned but misinformed op-ed characterizing left-leaning students at Princeton in broad strokes as stuck inside the Orange Bubble and unwilling to engage with other perspectives. On the other hand, certain members of the leftist community have spent more time denigrating Democrats than working to fight fascism. On both of these counts, we would like to set the record straight.
Read More December 15, 2024
1 min read 1 Comment
Peter Berkowitz
RealClear Politics
Excerpt: Most selective colleges and universities receive substantial federal funds – tens and even hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year for student aid and faculty research. Since Title VI contains no exceptions to its prohibition on raced-based discrimination, it also bars racism that is systemic. Thinking along these lines, in 2020, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos attempted to hold Princeton University accountable for the systemic racism it claimed was lodged there.
Entertaining and instructive as was her gambit, the Trump administration should not repeat it. That’s because systemic racism does not plague the nation’s colleges and universities, and government should not legitimize frivolous claims that it does.
Read More 
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