Princeton University Should Not ‘Cancel’ John Witherspoon

January 14, 2023 1 min read

1 Comment

Princeton University Should Not ‘Cancel’ John Witherspoon

by Stuart Taylor, Jr., Co-founder, Princetonians for Free Speech
Published in National Review

After the woke take down Witherspoon, if they succeed, who might be next? Maybe President (of the United States) James Madison, Founding genius and drafter of the First Amendment? A Princeton graduate (1771), Madison stayed on an extra year to study under Witherspoon and lends his name to the university’s James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service. He had far more than two slaves. Would Princeton spare the two iconic paintings of George Washington — with his hand on a cannon and with the College of New Jersey, as Princeton was then known, in the background during the Battle of Princeton, and at ease after winning it — by Charles Willson Peale, who himself experienced the battle firsthand?

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1 Response

James R. Wells, '46
James R. Wells, '46

April 05, 2024

Such nonsense!!! Don’t the spoiled children attending Princeton these days, know they have a rare privilege to grow up in a classical surrounding? They are there to learn – not dispense their childish beliefs.

They might well adapt the concept of maintaining an open mind, and inquiring as to what they might discover as they struggle to mature, rather than egotistically supposing they are already blessed with sufficient knowledge to make judgements regarding how Princeton should be governed and what portions of the past are worthy (in their self-deluded mind) to be retained. Take time to grow up, little ones; you’re there to acquire wisdom – not dispense it.

JRW

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