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Paul Du Quenoy
Tablet Magazine
Excerpt: Endlessly self-congratulatory, insufferably pedantic, irritatingly repetitive, and self-referential nearly to the point of parody, Eisgruber argues that our system of higher education is, with rare and regrettable exceptions, successfully fulfilling its primary functions. In his opinion, his industry deserves “high marks” for protecting free speech rather than criticism for devaluing it. Academia’s travails indicate that our campuses are merely hapless victims of a larger “civic crisis” besetting American society, not a cause of it.
Endowed with a strong tradition of free expression, in Eisgruber’s strikingly ahistorical view, America has only recently succumbed to political divisions exacerbated by rampant partisanship and pernicious social media use.
Joel Ibabao
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: The data is stark: 70 percent of Class of 2025 alumni who expect to earn above $120,000 next year say that they will not be working in the service of humanity, while 77 percent of those making under $90,000 say they will. However, the idea of working “in the service of humanity” reflected in these numbers is too narrow — earning to support one’s family and earning to give are both noble, service-oriented goals in themselves.
I agree that deciding on a career path in college means weighing different values, such as ambition, service, and the pursuit of self-understanding. While Shen acknowledges the need for students from low-income households to earn to give back to their families, by writing that “overlooking our responsibility to the public is no small error,” he shows the stigma still faced by students who are just trying to help their families and inadvertently reveals an elitist bias.
By Tal Fortgang '17
When Plato titled his account of Socrates’ trial “Apology,” he was not describing an expression of regret or remorse. The Greek word “apologia” meant something quite different: a reasoned defense, a careful explanation of one’s actions and beliefs in the face of grave accusations. For “corrupting the youth,” Socrates did not apologize in our modern sense. Instead, he offered a spirited justification of his life’s work, defending the examined life even as it led him to his death.
Jamie Saxon
Princeton University
Excerpt: Princeton’s research and teaching mission rests on a bedrock commitment to free expression, where thoughtful people of all backgrounds voice their opinions in civil discussion.
As University President Christopher L. Eisgruber emphasized in his 2025 State of the University letter, “ours must be a community where all members can speak their mind and where they engage in civil and respectful dialogue, even on — indeed, especially on — difficult topics.”
Carlett Spike
Princeton Alumni Weekly
Excerpt: Halts on new visa interviews, expanded ICE raids, and travel bans are just a few of the Trump administration tactics that have created an environment of fear and frustration for international students on college campuses across the country. At Princeton, international graduate students have faced a semester of uncertainty as policies are frequently changing and their options to continue their studies and research work remain unclear.
By Khoa Sands ‘26
Much of my writing and observations on free speech and academic freedom at Princeton over the past several years in some way revolve around the relationship between the ivory tower and civil society. I have stressed why a liberal society depends on liberal education, the tensions between civic education and the pursuit of truth, and how campus protests mirror social revolutions. Of course, as has been repeated numerous times, free speech is the only way universities can adhere to their truth-seeking missions. However, academic freedom is important from the civil society angle as well, as it legitimizes elite institutions in the eyes of a wider democratic society.
