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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.
Amelia Freund
Princetonians for Free Speech
My name is Amelia Freund and I am honored to be serving as President of the Princeton Open Campus Coalition (POCC) this year. An Army brat hailing from the DC-Maryland-Virginia area, I am a member of the great class of 2028, the Butler College Class Council, and the Politics Department. In high school I read On Liberty by John Stuart Mill several times over in my philosophy courses, each time I found it engaging and inspirational. I was particularly drawn in by Mill’s defense of free speech. He believed that for an idea to be true, it must be continuously discussed and debated, requiring broad protections for civic discourse. His argument resonated with me a great deal, and has carried me to countless engagements with freedom of speech since then, both in and out of the classroom.
Angela Smith and Leslie Spencer
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: In a recent Opinion piece, Siyeon Lee and Charlie Yale critiqued a letter from Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS) to entering first-year students that appeared recently in The Princeton Tory, the University’s leading conservative political magazine. In their piece, Lee and Yale questioned why we chose to publish in “a journal that only appeals to a select few on this campus,” and accused us of holding “selective views of free speech.”
To be clear: there is no such thing as free speech for some but not for others. Other than speech that is unprotected by First Amendment law, PFS is committed to defending the widest possible freedom of speech and open discourse for everyone, no matter how unpopular or offensive the point of view.
Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS) now has over 16,000 subscribers, a large portion who are undergraduate alumni. The growth in subscribers over the last year has been dramatic, from 1,400 subscribers in December 2024 to over 16,000 today. We have now engaged a powerful and growing segment of the Princeton community.
Our ambitious goal is to reach 20,000 alumni subscribers. A critical mass of voices on policy matters will help us put pressure on the administration to change policy and improve the free speech climate on campus.
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.
Nico David-Fox
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: After an extraordinarily tumultuous semester for higher education, Princeton concluded its fundraising year on Monday with $68.4 million in Annual Giving contributions and a 43.9 percent undergraduate alumni participation rate — the lowest rate since the 2010–11 fundraising year. The final months of year’s campaign coincided with the University’s “Stand Up” initiative, launched in April to combat the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education over the past few months.
In “Stand Up” emails to more than 10,000 alumni and other supporters, Princeton explicitly appealed for donations to Annual Giving, especially in the wake of the suspension of $210 million in federal research grants.
