Guided by Faith, Divinity Student Fought His “Anti-Racist” Princeton Seminary and Won

August 21, 2021 1 min read

Stuart Taylor, Jr., President, Princetonians for Free Speech
RealClearInvestigations


Excerpt: Timothy Keiderling’s decision to enroll in the Princeton Theological Seminary reflected his commitment “to give my life to work for justice and to live out the values of the Kingdom of God.” In a letter to the seminary’s president, Craig Barnes, he wrote that he “would sacrifice anything to make sure that my brothers and sisters see relief from their oppression."

But the seminary’s concept of justice clashed with Keiderling’s conscience when PTS required him to attend “anti-racism” training sessions that he considered a form of indoctrination. He refused to participate. And then – early this year, with the potent support of the newly founded Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) – he convinced the seminary to exempt him from the training.

It was “a real victory which can advance the academic freedom cause substantially,” says Princeton Professor Robert George, a leader of the AFA who acted as an adviser to Keiderling. “Instead of a victim, we have a victor — one who stuck to his guns and persuaded his institution not only to respect his right of conscience, but to acknowledge the difference between education and indoctrination.”

Click here for link to full article


Leave a comment


Also in Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

As many universities take down their DEI websites, Princeton’s sites largely remain

February 20, 2025 1 min read

Lia Opperman
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: As some universities scrub diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) websites to comply with the Trump administration’s executive orders targeting diversity efforts, Princeton’s websites have largely remained up.

Read More
Norman Finkelstein GS ’87 returns to talk at Princeton, discusses Israel and Gaza

February 19, 2025 1 min read

Luke Grippo 
Daily Princetonian 

Excerpt: Political scientist and activist Norman Finkelstein GS ’87 returned to campus on Tuesday to discuss the war in Gaza with history professor Max Weiss. Throughout the talk, Finkelstein addressed the United States’ history with the Middle East from the early 2000s, the United Nations’ complicated history with the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the war in Gaza.

Read More
Commentary: You (yes, you) are part of the classics conversation

February 19, 2025 1 min read

Lily Halbert-Alexander
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Amid a national decline in study of the humanities, prestigious universities are cutting their entire classics departments. As a discipline, classics may seem to fly under the radar — classics majors comprised less than one percent of Princeton’s graduating Class of 2024. But over the last few years, classics has been the subject of charged conversations tying closely back to Princeton. This has sparked fundamental questions about what to do when books known as great and inspirational are called out for inspiring dangerous political movements.

Read More