Campus Protests and Free Expression

Christopher L. Eisgruber
Inside Princeton, Princeton University

Excerpt: Since April 25, a group of protestors has conducted a round-the-clock sit-in at Princeton, first in McCosh Courtyard and then on Cannon Green.  I write now with an update about how the University is responding to the protestors’ concerns and those of the broader community.

Over the course of the last week, several colleagues in my administration met multiple times with members of the protesting group.  They explained that issues of general interest to the University community must be addressed, whenever possible, through appropriate processes that respect the interests of multiple parties and viewpoints, not through negotiations with a single interest group.  Our goal was accordingly to identify concerns that might be addressed through established channels consistent with existing University processes and principles.

Miriam Waldvogel and Isabella Dail
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: The 13 students who have only consumed water since Friday, May 3 have ended their hunger strike, Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest (PIAD) announced on social media around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 12. Seven other students have since begun hunger strikes in their place.

Organizers have repeatedly cited the strikes as a source of leverage amidst negotiations over demands with the University, which reportedly broke down at the end of last week.

Guest Contributors
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: We, the undersigned faculty of Princeton University, write to you about a matter of deep and urgent concern. On Friday morning, May 3, eighteen Princeton students began a hunger strike, eating nothing and drinking water only sparingly. These students’ blood pressures had dropped and their bodies had begun to consume their own tissue. One of the students was rushed to the hospital on the evening of Wednesday, May 8. As of today, on day nine with no food, thirteen students have broken their hunger strike. Seven more students have begun a hunger strike.

Our students escalated their protest tactics in this way because the University administration — which is beholden to President Eisgruber ’83 and the judgment of your Board — had been unwilling to communicate with them.

Isabel Keane
New York Post

Excerpt: An anti-Israel protester at Princeton University sounded off about how she was “starving” during a self-imposed hunger strike and accused the prestigious university of purposefully “physically weakening” students.

Abigail Anthony
National Review

Excerpt: Princeton University president Christopher Eisgruber sent an email today to all undergraduates recognizing that it has been nearly two weeks since a sit-in began on campus. He notes the particularly fraught situation, stating, “Never have I seen our campus more riven with passionate disagreements, disagreements that encompass the war in Gaza as well as issues about Princeton itself.” Eisgruber confirmed that “my colleagues and I are now in direct conversation with the protestors,” adding, “We can consider their concerns through appropriate processes that respect the interests of multiple parties and viewpoints, but we cannot allow any group to circumvent those processes or exert special leverage.”  Although Eisgruber and administrators are now speaking with the protesters, his email does not offer a particularly positive description of them. . . . The university’s stance is clear: The administration is willing to consider — even implement — demands raised by students who occupy buildings.

Olivia Sanchez and Miriam Waldvogel
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: A group of students, faculty, alumni, and postdocs met with University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, Dean of the Graduate School Rodney Priestley, and Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs Amaney Jamal on Monday at 11:30 a.m. to discuss the demands of the ongoing sit-in on Cannon Green.

The students’ demands, which have been public since the beginning of the sit-in on April 25, include divestment from Israeli companies and American military funding, an academic boycott of Israeli universities, the cultivation of ties with Palestinian academic institutions, and the creation of a center for Palestinian studies with scholarships for people displaced from Gaza. Multiple students present at the meeting told the Daily Princetonian that Eisgruber declined to meet any of their demands.