Commentary: Progressives failed a lesson in free speech

Anais Mobarak April 19, 2024 1 min read

Anais Mobarak
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Last spring, my Arabic language instructor instituted a policy that non-Muslim students refrain from eating or drinking in class during Ramadan. When I objected to this rule, she told me that the problem with Americans is that we “care too much about our rights.” As such, I was very surprised to see her name appear on an open letter demanding that the administration “defend academic freedom, freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful assembly” in the context of advocacy for “Palestinian liberation.”

Unfortunately, the recent controversy surrounding Charter Club has demonstrated that progressive voices on campus have failed to recognize the value of free speech beyond its usefulness as a political instrument. Thus, as a community, we must work to foster an ideologically-free understanding of free speech.

Click here for link to full article

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Also in Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

Civic Education Centers Are Booming. The AAUP Wants Them Gone.
Civic Education Centers Are Booming. The AAUP Wants Them Gone.

By Tal Fortgang ‘17 July 14, 2026 6 min read

Faith in higher education continues to plummet, and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)—the nation’s leading organization representing faculty interests and a longstanding voice on academic freedom and university governance—has decided to train its guns on the growing movement to establish civic education centers at public universities. The AAUP’s objections amount to a single, unlovely demand: we get to decide what students learn, and nobody else gets a vote.

Read More
Is Anthropology Hopelessly Politicized?
Is Anthropology Hopelessly Politicized?

Stephanie M. Lee July 14, 2026 1 min read

Six days after the report went online, the AAA fired back with a full-throated defense. “Anthropologists welcome rigorous critique of the discipline,” wrote its president, Carolyn M. Rouse. “What we cannot accept is a sweeping verdict about anthropology’s intellectual culture, scholarly practices, and professional norms built on selective evidence and issued without consultation. 

Read More
Princeton’s Return to Proctored Exams Reflects Changing Times
Princeton’s Return to Proctored Exams Reflects Changing Times

Julie Bonette July 07, 2026 1 min read

Since faculty voted in may to proctor in-person exams, national news outlets and some alumni have decried the end of Princeton’s 133-year-old tradition of unsupervised testing, but students, faculty, and recent graduates say the conversation within the campus community has been mild.

Read More