‘How to Stand Up to a Dictator’ by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa is the Class of 2027 Pre-read

April 06, 2023 1 min read

‘How to Stand Up to a Dictator’ by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa is the Class of 2027 Pre-read

by Denise Valenti, Office of Communications

Maria Ressa, Class of 1986, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression in the Philippines. Perhaps no one better understands that democracy is a fragile institution, and one that is too easily dismantled by disinformation.

Students entering the University this fall as the Class of 2027 will explore the tenuous threads that keep democracy woven together as they consider Ressa’s book, “How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future,” this year’s Princeton Pre-read selection.


Leave a comment


Also in Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

Commentary: By the way, Fizz is not real life

October 01, 2025 1 min read

Isaac Barsoum 
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Leftists at Princeton cheer the assassination of Charlie Kirk — at least, that’s what you would think if you’ve been reading the Opinion section of this newspaper lately. On Sept. 17, Tigers for Israel President Maximillian Meyer ’27 declared that Princeton’s progressives exhibit “a willingness to cheer violence itself.” Princeton Tory Publisher Zach Gardner ’26 didn’t go quite so far, but did say that students “treat bloodshed flippantly,” at least in the context of Kirk’s assassination.

Here’s one problem: large portions of both their arguments rest on evidence drawn from Fizz. For the uninitiated, Fizz is a campus social media app where any Princeton student can say anything at all, true or false, behind the veil of anonymity. It is remarkable that I have to say this: Fizz is not real life.

Read More
In ‘Terms of Respect,’ Eisgruber attempts to set the higher education record straight

October 01, 2025 1 min read

Cynthia Torres
Daily Princetonian 

Excerpt: About three-quarters of the way into an interview with The Daily Princetonian, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 made a bold pronouncement: “American universities are the best that they’ve ever been.”

Eisgruber has been in the business of speaking up for universities since the beginning of the Trump administration, which has put unprecedented pressure on Princeton and its peer institutions. His new book, “Terms of Respect,” argues, as the book’s subtitle reads, “how colleges get free speech right.” Despite the perception of intolerance on American college campuses, Eisgruber writes, colleges still host thriving and robust discourse.

Read More
Harvard Professor Delivers Constitution Day Lecture on Affirmative Action

September 30, 2025 3 min read

By Marisa Hirschfield ‘27

On September 17th, Harvard Law School professor Jeannie Suk Gersen delivered the annual Constitution Day Lecture in McCosh 50. The lecture, co-hosted by the James Madison Program and the Program in Law and Normative Thinking, was entitled “Our Civil Rights Revolution.” Professor Gersen discussed the history of affirmative action and the evolving meaning of civil rights. 

Read More