Campus Protests and Free Expression

John Mark Rozendaal
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: It was a beautiful, rainy morning in August. I began to play a soulful slow dance by J.S. Bach on a $200 cello in front of Citibank’s international headquarters. Shielded by rainbow colored umbrellas, I was encircled by 12 brave cellist protectors with linked arms, dozens of fellow climate activists, and scores of New York’s “finest” deployed in riot gear.

Annie Rupertus, Nikki Han, and Miriam Waldvogel
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Several pro-Palestine student organizations held sparsely attended demonstrations on campus on the days leading up to Monday, Oct. 7, which marks one year since Hamas’s attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

While most of this week’s actions occurred near Firestone, some University employees arriving to work Monday morning were greeted by pro-Palestine graffiti at the entrance to 22 Chambers St., where the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) is headquartered.

Amanda Friedman
Chronicle of Higher Education

Excerpt: Princeton University was publicly celebrating a professor’s selection for a prestigious award at the same time it was investigating her for her pro-Palestinian advocacy, the professor says.

On Tuesday, Princeton announced that Ruha Benjamin, a professor of African American Studies, was awarded an $800,000 “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Roughly 20 minutes after the university published its celebratory announcement, Benjamin shared on X that university officials had omitted her quotes about an investigation the college had opened into her involvement in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in April. The thread also includes the quotes she gave to the university.

Julie Bonette
Princeton Alumni Weekly

Excerpt: The two pro-Palestinian protesters who were arrested on Princeton’s campus for attempting to set up tents in the spring pleaded guilty and received suspended fines on Oct. 1, but Judge John McCarthy III ’69 denied the same deal to the first of the Clio Hall occupiers appearing in Princeton Municipal Court.

Vitus Larrieu and Isabella Dail
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: At the height of pro-Palestine protests last spring, hundreds of people surrounded Clio Hall as 13 protesters occupied an office inside, ending with the arrest of all 13 inside the building.

During Tuesday’s hearing, McCarthy questioned protester Sara Ryave ’24 under oath regarding what happened inside Clio Hall from the protesters’ perspective. Over the course of about 15 minutes, Ryave confirmed previously reported information while divulging new information under oath. Here are the highlights.

Alex Norbrook and Alan Plotz
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Princeton rolled out a new protest website two weeks ago, expanding their “time, place, and manner” restrictions to more times, more places, and more manners. By placing explicit bans on some of the most common forms of political demonstration, tightening language on obscure and inconsistently-applied existing restrictions, and departing from a constructive approach of speaking with protestors, the policies intend to stoke fear and chill protest.

We, the undersigned member organizations of the Princeton Progressive Coalition, oppose these tightened restrictions, reject the University’s hostile approach to protest, and call on all who support free speech and free expression to challenge these protest bans.