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PFS Editorial
May 19, 2026
Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS) today announced a landmark achievement: its email subscriber list has officially surpassed 26,000 verified subscribers, approximately 80% of which are alumni, representing one of the most significant milestones in the organization's history since its founding in late 2020. This high number represents a highly engaged network of supporters committed to preserving the fundamental value of free speech at Princeton.
Why are alumni subscribing to PFS? The landscape of higher education remains in flux. At a time when the principles of open inquiry and free expression are increasingly debated on campuses across the country, PFS stands as a meaningful and growing voice for reform. Princeton's standing in FIRE's 2026 College Free Speech Rankings reflects the urgency: the university ranks 160 out of 257 schools and still earns a grade of "F", even as it moves up from prior years. Alumni have a unique ability to help shape the future of Princeton. PFS promotes objective facts and information, engages students and faculty, and has become the leader in alumni free speech advocacy.
Of the 26,000 subscribers, approximately 80% are alumni (roughly 20,000). That represents approximately 29% of all undergraduate alumni and 21% of all post-graduate alumni. The remaining 20% (approximately 6,000) include parents, spouses, faculty, staff, and general supporters, reflecting PFS's expanding reach well beyond the alumni base. These figures were validated through a comprehensive database project completed in early 2026.
The growth of PFS's email community tells a compelling story. At its inception in late 2020, the organization had 1,400 email subscribers. Between December 2024 and December 2025, the list grew from 1,444 to 16,500 — and has since surpassed 26,000 today. PFS's outreach to subscribers has become a major source of needed awareness of the diminished free speech climate at Princeton. This growing subscriber community is also PFS's most valuable strategic asset: a direct, trusted channel to thousands of Princeton alumni and supporters who can be informed, engaged, and mobilized on the issues that matter most to the future of the University.
"Twenty-six thousand subscribers is not just a number. It is a testament to how deeply this community cares about the principles that make Princeton great, as well as the issues of free speech, viewpoint diversity and academic freedom," said Todd Rulon-Miller ‘73, President and Treasurer of PFS.
If you believe in free inquiry at Princeton, now is the time to make it official: add your name alongside 26,000 alumni and supporters by joining PFS's subscriber community today.
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Free speech is usually described as a right one either has or does not have, relative to the laws of one’s residence. But a right, like a muscle, is only as strong as its use. When my family flew to the United States in 2018, I naively thought that I had escaped the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) systematic suppression of free speech. I believed that I would access Google, YouTube, and Winnie the Pooh without any need for a VPN to circumvent the “Great Firewall of China,” a term used to describe the CCP’s firm control on online content. But I was clueless: I unknowingly carried a part of the repression within me.
In April 1995, University maintenance crews spent two days cleaning “walkways, benches, plazas and walls on campus,” working to remove not dirt or debris, but simple sidewalk chalk. The chalk drawings, according to a report from The Daily Princetonian, consisted of “pro-gay messages” written by hand during Pride Week. After the removal, advocates were rightly in uproar. Following the incident, the University, claiming that the discrepancy had transpired because of “cross-office confusion,” clarified its chalking policy — it was henceforth banned, in all cases.
Three decades on, chalk at Princeton has found itself relegated to dusty trays in classrooms and lecture halls. Hardly anyone — students, activists, artists, campus organizations, candidates, schoolchildren — chalks University grounds anymore. Simply put, the University’s ban has worked. But the question remains: Why is Princeton so afraid of chalk?
There is exactly one kind of institution in the world whose product is “thinking” — the university. This is an existential challenge for every university, Princeton most definitely included, now that nearly all artificial intelligence is purpose-built to offload the hard work of thinking.
Universities need to return to the foundations of learning with trust — and verification — at the heart of their relationship with students. They also need to be far more prescriptive about what learning looks like so that students who arrive with limited capacity for deep reading have the time and space to develop their critical thinking skills.
