Supporting Students Free Expression

Elisabeth Stewart
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Last Thursday, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) addressed a letter to President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 accusing Princeton University community members of leveraging no-contact and no-communication orders (NCOs) to “censor student journalists.”

The letter from the ADL and FIRE made an explicit connection between the issue of NCOs and the campus conversation surrounding the conflict in Israel and Palestine.

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.

Guest Contributors
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: We write as bereaved members of the Princeton community — faculty, students, alumni, and staff — to express our unequivocal outrage over the tragic loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives during the past week as the region seems to careen uncontrollably towards an all-out regional conflagration. There is never any justification for the targeting of civilians, whether it be assaults on Israeli towns or the aerial bombardment and total siege of the Gaza Strip.

Elazar Cramer and Yonah Berenson
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip killed, raped, kidnapped, and wounded thousands of innocent civilians in Israel’s Southern District on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. They took over one hundred and fifty civilians hostage, including American citizens, and they have threatened to begin executing them.

It brings us only distress to detail these horrific events, but we must because too few on this campus have expressed the repugnance that these murders must prompt.

Ethan Hicks, ‘26
Princetonians for Free Speech

Excerpt: While Princeton remains ranked significantly below average in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression 2024 ranking (placing 187th of 248 ranked schools), its commitment to academic freedom of expression in line with the Chicago Principles was renewed during freshman orientation for the Class of 2027. This year’s orientation activities featured a variety of mandatory and optional free speech events educating incoming students on their free speech rights.