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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.”
When Princeton becomes viewpoint-inclusive and when not just departments but ADMINISTRATION is cut, then I will “Stand Up”.
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
Princeton recently hosted the New Jersey General Assembly for a special session in the Faculty Room of Nassau Hall, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the independent legislature’s first meeting in August 1776. At the time of that inaugural session, Nassau Hall was still unravaged by the horrors of war.
Closing the doors to such historic buildings repeats the mistake made by too many universities: conflating the institution with its administration. While the University could not function without the work of its leaders and trustees, neither could it live without the flesh, blood, and spirit of its students and faculty.
Over the past year, President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted international students in a series of restrictions, citing concerns about national security. Fear has spread among international students at Princeton, where 13% of undergraduates — and 45% of grad students — come from abroad. “This is not the safe haven that it was supposed to be,” B. ’27, a Princeton student from Latin America, told PAW.
The last two years have seen a dramatic increase in the scrutiny of free speech and academic freedom on university campuses, largely in response to the protests that followed the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the Israeli invasion of Gaza. There has been important progress during this period that bolsters awareness of the importance of free speech and academic freedom principles.
However, progress on these core values will mean little if there is not a major effort to address a pressing long-term and deeply embedded problem – the almost total lack of viewpoint diversity among faculty at many universities.
VANE LUCAS
May 20, 2025
I would love to stand up for Princeton and for higher education — when Princeton returns to it.