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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
By Marisa Hirschfield ‘27
On April 24th, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens spoke about free speech, journalism, and Israel to approximately one hundred attendees gathered in Guyot Hall. The event, entitled “Writing About Israel as a Columnist and as a Jew,” was co-sponsored by a variety of campus organizations, including B’Artzeinu and the Center for Jewish Life. I attended in my capacity as a Writing Fellow for Princetonians for Free Speech, a contributor to the event.
Princetonians for Free Speech editorial
In an April 29 editorial, Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS) laid out how the target on Princeton’s back on free speech, academic freedom, and antisemitism issues has been growing ever larger. Yet Princeton’s leadership continues to say publicly that everything is just fine at Princeton. Now something has happened that blows the cover off Princeton for everyone to see inside, and the repercussions will be very serious. It is untenable for Princeton’s leadership to continue to live in its bubble, seemingly divorced from reality, and to continue down the path of refusing both to admit there are problems and to take basic steps to address them.
Today, an article was published in Real Clear Politics, “Princeton Fails to Enforce Its Rules on Free Speech, Antisemitism”, written by Danielle Shapiro, who just graduated from Princeton in May. We will not repeat everything in her piece, but everyone interested in Princeton should read it. It is devastating, and the issues she raises will not end there. Her brave actions as a whistleblower will lead to story after story on this matter and will severely tarnish the reputation of Princeton. (Ms. Shapiro is on the board of PFS.)
By Danielle Shapiro
Princeton’s President Christopher Eisgruber has positioned himself as perhaps the leading academic defender against the Trump administration’s crackdown on universities, citing the importance of universities and academic freedom, as well as his belief that the administration has greatly overreached in its attacks, especially against Harvard.
Yet his ability to lead credibly this defense was challenged in April by an event at Princeton featuring former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is considered one of the favorites to succeed Benjamin Netanyahu next year. Demonstrators inside McCosh Hall shouted Bennett down and a fire alarm was pulled, apparently by a protester, ending the event. Outside, Jewish attendees were called “inbred swine,” among other slurs, and told to “go back to Europe.” President Eisgruber apologized to Bennett and university officials promised a serious investigation. A number of observers noted the importance of Princeton enforcing its rules in this situation. I attended the April 7 event, and I volunteered to speak as a witness to university investigators, with whom I met twice for over two hours.
VANE LUCAS
May 20, 2025
I would love to stand up for Princeton and for higher education — when Princeton returns to it.