Viewpoint Diversity at Princeton

Solveig Lucia Gold
First Things

Excerpt: One thing is clear: Our universities are failing to unite political enemies and forge common identities now. The keffiyeh-clad students who run around campuses shouting “Intifada!” while celebrating the cancellation of in-person classes are activists first and students a very distant second.

Those of us who remember cheerfully spirited political debates around college dining tables in the not-so-distant past may find it hard to believe that our institutions have fallen so far, so fast. How did we get here?

Keith E. Whittington
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Imagine, if you will, that a relatively small, but passionate and loud — complete with drums, chants, and megaphones — group of Princeton students thought that SPIA should be renamed the Donald J. Trump School of Public and International Affairs and launch new initiatives focused on American greatness. After pressing their demands for many months to no effect, they decide that more direct action would be needed to bring attention to their cause. They march through the hallways of Robertson Hall, take an office, yell out of windows, and drop “Make America Great Again” flags through them, and announce that they will occupy the office until their demands are met.

Francesca Block, '22
The Free Press

Excerpt: Yesterday, The Free Press published an exclusive interview with Mario Torres, a facilities worker at Columbia who was photographed fighting off a pro-Palestinian protester as a mob invaded Hamilton Hall on April 30. A GoFundMe raising money for Torres’s potential legal fees surpassed the target of $18,000 in hours. The total has since reached more than $30,000.
Now, two of Torres’s colleagues, Lester Wilson and Jesse Wynne, who were also working in the building with him that night, tell The Free Press they feel betrayed not only by the university—which their union is now suing on their behalf—but by the student protesters who put them in harm’s way. Here’s Francesca Block with the story. . .

President Christopher L. Eisgruber
Council of the Princeton University Community
Trustees of Princeton University
Princeton University

Re:    Responses to the Clio Hall Takeover

Dear Officers and Officials of Princeton:

We undersigned members of the Princeton University community make this petition to you.

Abigail Anthony
National Review

Excerpt: On Wednesday, I posted a screenshot taken from the “Black Princeton” group chat consisting of students and alumni. The image shows that undergraduate Kennedy Primus enticed people to join the pro-Palestinian protest on campus with the promise of bagels, and further reassured new recruits that there were “masks, hats, and umbrellas available for anyone who is concerned about their identity being revealed.”

Then, she requested help for an “urgent need”: “PLEASE send me videos of our protestors looking peaceful! Our lawyer says that these are desperately needed.”

Guest Contributors
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: We, the undersigned faculty members and academic staff at Princeton University, write this letter to condemn your repression and vilification of Princeton students and other community members currently protesting and engaging in civil disobedience in solidarity with Palestine.