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Angela Smith
Princetonians for Free Speech
Free speech and open inquiry are not abstract ideals – they are the lifeblood of a healthy university community. At Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS), we strive to advance those principles through practical, tangible support for students and faculty who put them into action.
As such, we are pleased to tell you about two recent events at Princeton, supported by PFS that reflect this mission in powerful ways.
Empowering Student Voices
The student group Princeton Open Campus Coalition (POCC) hosted an event on February 19 featuring RocaNews, a Gen-Z–driven 2020 media startup known for short-form, non-partisan journalism. Their motto “no bias, no fear” seems to have caught on: RocaNews has 1.8 million followers on Instagram and 300k subscribers on YouTube. Roca takes a different approach than the traditional media culture. Instead of outrage and polarization, they strive to inform without inflaming and invite conversation rather than division. They also examine the challenges in running a non-partisan newsroom in an age of censorship, and how to sustain viewpoint diversity in a climate that too often discourages dissent. Read more from one of our PFS student writing fellows who covered the event firsthand.
PFS is proud to fund and amplify student-led events like this. We know that empowering students to organize discussions, question assumptions, and create spaces for varied perspectives is how real change begins. Supporting student organizations that embrace viewpoint diversity ensures that Princeton undergraduates continue to lead by example to bring respectful, open dialogue to campus life.
Amplifying Faculty Voices
PFS is also pleased to support the Princeton Council on Academic Freedom (PCAF), a new group with 70 faculty members. Their February 19 event “Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times” convened voices on how to protect academic freedom in today's climate. Read a PFS writing intern perspective from this event. PCAF’s mission aligns with our own: ensuring that Princeton remains fearless, curious, and guided by truth rather than fear of reprisal.
Your support makes free speech possible
These events highlight two pillars of a university committed to fostering a culture of free speech and viewpoint diversity: students who engage courageously and faculty who defend freedom of thought. PFS is honored to support both efforts, reinforcing Princeton’s proud tradition as a place where open discourse is not merely tolerated, but celebrated.
When you donate to PFS, you make events like these possible. Your support equips both students and faculty to model the open, honest exchange of ideas that a great university depends on.
In addition to supporting campus events, your contributions also fund our PFS Writing Fellows (student interns), two of whom personally attended and reported on these programs. Every gift helps strengthen the culture of free expression that Princeton desperately needs, and inspires the next generation to carry those values forward. We appreciate your donation consideration.
Angela Smith is the Executive Director of Princetonians for Free Speech.
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Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, top colleges and universities have faced an onslaught of federal attacks: slashing grant money for research, pressuring schools to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, cracking down on visas for international students, and ending graduate program sponsorship for active duty military at top schools. However, some Ivy League universities — the center of many of Trump’s ongoing attacks — have decreased messaging on the potential consequences of these federal directives.
“One thing that’s been clear is that a lot of universities have felt that publicity would bring no advantage or do them no good,” history professor David Bell GS ’91, who has been outspoken about federal actions against universities, said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian.
As a professor who is known to dissent from progressive ideologies that are dominant at universities such as Princeton, where I’ve taught for nearly 40 years, I’m frequently asked by students for advice about how to navigate a campus they worry will be hostile to them. Some are pro-Israel, or politically and socially conservative, or religiously observant.
They fear being treated unfairly by faculty members who are hostile to their beliefs. Many are afraid of being regarded as outcasts by their more liberal or progressive peers. They worry about being excluded from academic opportunities or not treated equitably in social or other extracurricular activities. To these students I say, with regret: You’re right to worry. I’ve seen these things happen.
Universities may be tempted to treat these capabilities as inevitable improvements in education. Students will be able to consume vast amounts of information, more than ever before. But like AI writing itself, such consumption would be vast but shallow. The more interesting possibility, then, is that AI will force universities to rediscover the value of intellectual work that cannot be outsourced.
