Survey: Roughly Three-Fourths of Princeton Students Believe Shouting Down Speakers is Acceptable

June 10, 2023 1 min read

By Jonathan Turley
Jonathan Turley's Blog


Excerpt: A new survey by Princetonians for Free Speech shows that roughly three-fourths of students believe that it is acceptable to shout down a speaker. The distressing results are consistent with other studies and surveys that have been discussed on this blog. Of course, some faculty maintain that it is better to “shoot down rather than shout down” conservatives.

While the university has emphasized the need to support free speech, Princeton’s President, Christopher Eisgruber, sent a mixed message this year in his speech at the freshman orientation session focused on free expression. He warned that “opponents of diversity and inclusion are sometimes using outrageous speech to provoke a backlash.” Blaming conservatives for tensions is a curious way to call for speech tolerance.

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