Alumni & Student Advocacy

Matthew Wilson
National Review

Excerpt: As Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and other elite universities have lately languished in unwanted public attention, Princeton and its president, Christopher Eisgruber, have largely avoided the spotlight. While Penn president Liz Magill was forced from office soon after a disastrous congressional hearing on antisemitism on December 5 — with Harvard’s Claudine Gay following her out the door just last week -- Eisgruber remains, and Princeton has emerged more or less unscathed.

But the past several years at Princeton have been troubled — indeed, political controversies have plagued the university for nearly my entire time as a student.

Robert P. George, Joan Frawley Desmond
National Catholic Register

Excerpt: A leading Catholic public intellectual, George serves as the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. A staunch defender of free speech and academic freedom and inquiry, George had closely followed the developing controversy at Harvard and weighed in on X, formerly Twitter.

In his conversation with the Register, he examined the essential role of free speech and academic freedom in the mission of U.S. universities. But he also noted that many elite institutions are grappling with two competing visions of academic life: the “social-justice model” that endorses progressive values and the “classical, truth-seeking” model.

Campus Reform

In a Dec. 13 letter, Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber echoed the sentiments expressed by Harvard President Claudine Gay, MIT President Sally Kornbluth, and since-resigned University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill during their disastrous congressional testimonies, in which all three refused to state that “calling for the genocide of Jews” is unequivocally unacceptable on their campuses. The three university leaders asserted that the acceptability of such calls for violence would depend on context, with appeals to the value of free expression.

Zachary Dulberg
New York Post

Excerpt: If the words “diversity, equity, and inclusion” mean anything, it’s that hatred is unacceptable no matter what form it takes. Yet the past two months have made clear to me that institutional DEI tolerates — and thereby encourages — the particularly awful hatred of antisemitism.

What else could explain what’s happening at Princeton University?

Julian Hartman-Sigall
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Earlier this month, in advance of a number of state-wide elections, Princeton political groups took part in canvassing and outreach efforts to get out the vote. Notably absent from these groups — which included the College Democrats, the Princeton chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America — was the College Republicans, which, unlike its left-leaning counterpart, did not organize any programming.

The group has historically had difficulty sustaining consistent activity levels, being reliant on strong personalities that occasionally cycle through the University to revive it at recurring nadirs on a campus that has a strong conservative ecosystem.

Micaiah Bilger
College Fix

Excerpt: Students blocked a conservative journalist covering a pro-Palestinian walkout on Thursday at Princeton University, following her and covering her camera with signs and flags.

Alexandra Orbuch, editor in chief of the conservative, independent student newspaper The Princeton Tory, wrote on X the aggressive obstructions made her very uncomfortable. Orbuch and The Princeton Tory published several videos on X showing student protesters repeatedly following the conservative journalist and blocking her camera.