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Princetonians for Free Speech
Since the terrorist attack on Israel and the invasion of Gaza, several universities have been prominently featured in the national news for protests, sometimes violent, on their campuses and for antisemitic acts. Princeton had protests and instances of antisemitism, but these were nowhere near the level of what occurred at some schools, such as Columbia and Harvard. At PFS, we believe this was in part because Princeton set forth clear standards in advance for protests on campus. It should have come as no surprise that two of the first schools the Trump Administration went after to freeze grants were Columbia and Harvard.
But the situation has changed in recent weeks, and Princeton is now clearly in the cross hairs of the Trump Administration, much more in the national spotlight, and facing its own financial pressures. Consider the following:
Third, in a high-profile article inThe Atlantic, soon after the Trump Administration froze grants to Columbia and made specific demands on that university in order to have the freeze eliminated, President Eisgruber strongly defended the role of universities and criticized the actions of the Trump Administration.
Fourth, Eisgruber is the current chair of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a position that makes him a principal defender of universities across the country. AAU will certainly be drawn into the on-going battle between the Trump Administration and many universities. If fact, the AAU issued a strong statement on March 31 against the Trump Administration policy of freezing grants. The AAU said: “The withdrawal of research funding for reasons unrelated to research sets a dangerous and counterproductive precedent.”
Fifth, while Princeton has in recent months taken some actions to strengthen its stance on free speech, including a robust defense of free speech in the orientation at the beginning of this school year, it has not acted on either of two hot button issues that other leading universities have addressed: institutional neutrality and removing litmus tests for hiring faculty and for faculty reviews. Princeton is becoming an outlier on these important issues, as more and more peer institutions take action.
Sixth, Princeton’s rather dismal FIRE free speech ranking will be noted by the Trump Administration and Congress. Princeton ranked 223 out of 251.
Seventh, Princeton may well be facing a very public civil rights suit over its admissions process. After the recent Supreme Court decision on admissions policies, the demographics of Princeton’s acceptances changed very little, while there were significant changes in the demographics of peer institutions. Legal experts have told us this will draw scrutiny from Trump officials.
It is a most difficult period for many universities. Their reputations are under attack. In some cases, alumni contributions and student applications are down. The Trump Administration is freezing huge amounts of grants and contracts. A large increase in the current very small (1.4 percent) endowment income tax is likely to be enacted. And there is a real threat of civil rights suits that will be expensive to defend. Up until recently, Princeton has avoided the spotlight, but that is no longer the case.
In fact, President Eisgruber has increased his public appearances. He is obviously seeking the spotlight to make his points. Some applaud him for taking principled stances. On the other hand, in the current atmosphere, he definitely risks drawing the close attention of the Trump Administration to Princeton.
The near-term future for Princeton is filled with land mines. At PFS, we have been working since 2020 to help Princeton position itself as a leader on free speech, academic freedom, and viewpoint diversity. For example, we have proposed our Top Ten actions Princeton should take and urged Princeton to adopt them. We have also provided the University with information on how to dramatically improve its FIRE ranking.
In recent months the number of alumni subscribers to our website has swelled to over 7,000, and we are confident it will be over 10,000 in a few months. These are alumni who want to be informed about the critical issues that will affect the very future of Princeton and who want to be in a position to have their voices heard when needed. We urge you to join this alumni movement by subscribing to our PFS newsletters and reports and especially to urge your alumni friends to do the same.
This weekend I had the opportunity to meet the newly confirmed head of Civil Rights enforcement at DOJ. I reminded her that Princeton’s president has admitted the University is racist, and that it has failed to follow recent Supreme Court precedent about college admissions. Princeton’s notorious hubris calls out for judicial retribution.
#11. Reform the Board of Trustees nominations and composition to allow alumni (other than the preselected nominees) an opportunity to campaign and have a meaningful governance role.
Princeton should be in the crosshairs and Eisgruber is a disgrace.
Supporting terror groups, using (the threat of) violence to cow others with contrary views (which is what a terrorist does) etc. is not “free speech”. Princeton did poorly in the face of such behavior and are backpedaling (a little) only because of potential financial consequences. Your moral compass is broken. The faculty has for years been leaning further and further left. Fixing such a deep problem will take a President with an actual moral compass and a serious backbone. Does Eisgruber have it?
Free speech, great. Even for our visitors and visiting students. However, violent takeovers of buildings, harassment of Jewish students and pro Israel students, intimidation, and organized interaction and planning with terrorist groups is not acceptable behavior for anyone, least of all our visitors.
Isaac Bernstein and Justus Wilhoit
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ketanji Brown Jackson sat down for an hour-long conversation with Professor Deborah Pearlstein in front of a full house at Richardson Auditorium on Wednesday. Nominated to the Supreme Court in 2022, she discussed her historic path to the nation’s highest court, the challenges of public life, and the lessons that have guided her career.
Princetonians for Free Speech
Excerpt: Dear Princeton Class of ’29:
This letter comes to you from the alumni organization, Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS). We have existed since you started high school four years ago. We were founded in response to a growing concern that Princeton has drifted from its core mission of the pursuit of knowledge and truth, and towards a narrow activism that threatens free speech, academic freedom, and viewpoint diversity.
Paul Du Quenoy
Tablet Magazine
Excerpt: Endlessly self-congratulatory, insufferably pedantic, irritatingly repetitive, and self-referential nearly to the point of parody, Eisgruber argues that our system of higher education is, with rare and regrettable exceptions, successfully fulfilling its primary functions. In his opinion, his industry deserves “high marks” for protecting free speech rather than criticism for devaluing it. Academia’s travails indicate that our campuses are merely hapless victims of a larger “civic crisis” besetting American society, not a cause of it.
Endowed with a strong tradition of free expression, in Eisgruber’s strikingly ahistorical view, America has only recently succumbed to political divisions exacerbated by rampant partisanship and pernicious social media use.
Marta Richards '73 P04
April 11, 2025
I am in more and more despair as the Princeton administration doubles down on its woke and anti-free speech policies. I would not pay to breach the NY Times paywall but there is apparently a congratulatory article about Eisgruber’s handling of the Trump administration and the Bennett speech. I guess most of the buildings I knew at Princeton are still there but the place is unrecognizable to me. As I say, it seems to get worse daily or at least it is getting exposed more daily. Some say it is that the Arab countries are funding the university. I have no idea where all this came from (allthough I know it started with Tilghman) but I think Eisgruber needs to be replaced. But as another commentator said above, the Board of Trustees is handpicked by the administration so that will never happen, or if it does it will be on Eisgruber’s own timetable and the replacement will likely be someone like that Gay woman who was at Harvard. My son graduated in ’04 but I hope his two boys (very young now) never aspire to attend, unless there is a total turnaround. Better to go to Vanderbilt or a southern state university where white males are not looked upon as born racists.