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David Montgomery ‘83
Princeton Alumni Weekly
Excerpt: For the first time in memory, Princeton is inviting alumni, faculty, students, and allies to lend their voices to a broad campaign of political advocacy and public affirmation in response to the Trump administration’s unprecedented attacks on research funding and academic freedom in American higher education. “To my knowledge, this is a new kind of initiative for the University,” President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 told PAW in an early May interview about the campaign, which is called “Stand Up for Princeton and Higher Education.”
But Princeton does discriminate. The admissions demographics have not changed. And Princeton swore in court for 14 years that its admissions demographics would change if it was prohibited from discriminating (which it now legally is prohibited because it was doing it so egregiously and destructively).
And Princeton is not an inclusive forum for the free exchange of ideas. Leftist had a riot protesting a prime minister just two months ago. And other incidents of massive intolerance every year for the last decade.
Princeton is not safe for conservatives now. Both my daughters have told me that they needed to self-censor and hide their politics in order not to be harrassed by other students and by some of their professors.
Princeton is not the bedrock of anything any more. At best it is a ship that has lost all its moorings. Realistically it is probably closer to a cancer infecting our society with division and more leftist hate, violence, and intolerance
Yes, now Princeton pays for its arrogance and Eisgruber’s hubris. This is the way reality works.
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We should stand up for free speech by demonstrating that Princeton doesn’t discriminate and is an open, safe, and inclusive forum for the free exchange of ideas. Thats the bedrock of our educational system. But they don’t want to talk???? Now we pay
Princetonians for Free Speech
Since the beginning of the year, Princetonians for Free Speech has been warning that Princeton and other universities were likely to be hit with a big increase in the current 1.4 % tax on endowment income. Now it is happening.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, the House Ways & Means Committee voted to report out its part of the Reconciliation bill – a.k.a. the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” This massive bill contains numerous tax provisions, including a large increase in the tax rate, now 1.4%, on endowment income. The bill creates a tiered tax rate based on an institution’s “student-adjusted” endowment. There are four rates: 1.4%, 7%, 14%, and 21%. The 21% rate applies to schools with an endowment of at least $2 million per student. It is the same as the corporate tax rate. Princeton qualifies for the 21%. According to one article, others qualifying for the highest rate are Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT. Here is a list of the largest endowments. Princeton is listed at $34 billion. Note that Texas, which has a large endowment, is not covered by the endowment tax because it is a public university.
Christopher Bao and Annie Rupertus
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: Princeton asked all departments and University units to prepare “separate plans for 5 percent and 10 percent permanent budget cuts to be phased in over the next three years, with some actions to start later this summer” in an email sent to faculty and staff on Monday afternoon — the University’s most dramatic budgetary guidance yet following a tumultuous semester for higher education.
The email, sent by Provost Jennifer Rexford and Executive Vice President Katie Callow-Wright, explicitly acknowledged the potential for layoffs to be part of budget reductions. “Cuts of this magnitude to our budget cannot be achieved without changes to some operations and the associated elimination of some staff positions,” they wrote.
Samuel J. Abrams
American Enterprise Institute
Excerpt: In response to the Trump Administration’s continued attacks on higher education, leaders of some of the most prominent colleges and universities are pushing back—albeit hypocritically. Nearly 500 college presidents and deans signed an open letter from the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, titled “A Call for Constructive Engagement.” Without proper context, the letter is quite reasonable.
Consider three well-known cases where presidents did not promote open inquiry and the pursuit of truth. At Princeton, like so many other schools, the influence of identity politics was so powerful that potential faculty hires and entire streams of inquiry were not possible, and areas of research would not be supported if they did not conform to expected progressive political norms and expectations.
Marta Richards '73 P04
May 17, 2025
When Princeton becomes viewpoint-inclusive and when not just departments but ADMINISTRATION is cut, then I will “Stand Up”.