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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.
Every so often, the complexities of the world break through the orange bubble that is Princeton University. There are occasional reminders of the world outside, like the pro-Ukraine flag-waving event outside FitzRandolph Gate, reminding us that a major conflict in Europe is still ongoing four years later. Even as a veteran, it still feels like something happening in a remote place. It was only when I attended the European Cultural Studies (ECS) Faber Colloquium, a requirement for the European Studies minor I am pursuing, that I reflected on Europe’s significance and the debt Princeton as an institution owes to Europe, from its architecture to its precept system.
In the recently published piece, The Next Campus Battle after Free Speech: Viewpoint Diversity at America’s Elite Universities, Edward Yingling ’70 and Leslie Spencer ’79 offer three “green shoots” to the ideological monolith that is America’s elite universities: civics centers, faculty reform, and the banning of diversity statements. I would like to offer a student perspective on these proposals. In my view, these reforms vary widely in their practical viability. Student civic programs offer the most promising path toward intellectual renewal, faculty reform appears the least promising, and hiring reforms, particularly the elimination of diversity statements, serve as a necessary precondition for genuine intellectual honesty.
Matters of viewpoint diversity have recently received considerable attention in the academy and the media. A recent essay by Lisa Siraganian, “Seven Theses Against Viewpoint Diversity,” makes the case against efforts to increase viewpoint diversity.
I believe that the lack of viewpoint and intellectual diversity within the university has hindered the pursuit of knowledge and the well-being of society. I would thus like to take up Siraganian’s invitation and charge.
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February 28, 2026
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