Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

Elisabeth H. Daugherty , Mark F. Bernstein ’83, Carlett Spike, Brett Tomlinson , Peter Barzilai s’97 , Julie Bonette
Princeton Alumni Weekly

Excerpt: Pro-Palestinian groups escalated their protesting on Saturday by painting graffiti, dying Princeton’s Fountain of Freedom red, and interrupting President Christopher Eisgruber ’83’s annual Q&A with alumni by chanting, shouting, and holding up hands covered in red gloves and red paint. They also made their presence known at the P-rade Saturday afternoon, chanting and carrying signs.

Bill Hewitt
Princeton Tory

Excerpt: About Kafka’s great story, “A Hunger Artist,” Richard A. Posner observed, “The hunger artist is tormented by his inability to convince an indifferent world of his artistic integrity.” So, too, Princeton’s recent hunger artists’ professed anguish that the University had not endorsed their cause.   

Princeton’s hunger artists have decamped their recent performance protest on Cannon Green, but their hunger strike created a void that lingers still. In hopes of bending the University to their will, 13 Princeton students had deployed a public hunger strike. Further, 70 or so of Princeton’s faculty signed an open letter of clarion support for these students’ self-flagellating efforts to impose their demands. Rather than urge these students not to harm themselves, the faculty letter histrionically condemned the unmoved University administration.

Carlett Spike, Peter Barzilai s'97
Princeton Alumni Weekly

Excerpt: The 13 Princeton students who were arrested during the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus are unlikely to face penalties greater than probation, the University said in a statement Monday night.

The students will be able to participate in end-of-year activities and graduation, according to the statement. Hours earlier, faculty members voted 154-136 in favor of granting amnesty to the students at a special meeting held at Richardson Auditorium.

PFS original content
Khoa Sands ‘26

Excerpt: Last week, The New York Times published an article Why Antiwar Protests Haven’t Flared Up at Black Colleges Like Morehouse. As President Biden prepared to give the commencement address at Morehouse, students remained sharply divided about his presence on campus. Like many colleges in the country, students are angry about the ongoing Israel–Hamas War in Gaza, and the role of the United States in supporting Israel. However, as The New York Times reports,

While anger over the war remains palpable at Morehouse and other historically Black colleges and universities, these campuses have been largely free of turmoil, and tensions are far less evident: no encampments, few loud protests, and little sign of Palestinian flags flying from dorm windows.

Mark F. Berstein ‘83
Princeton Alumni Weekly

Excerpt: PAW Editor's Note: This article has been updated with new information.

Though the occupation of Clio Hall on April 29 lasted for only a few hours, it has set off weeks of accusations and recriminations. Eleven students — five undergraduates and six graduate students — as well as a postdoctoral researcher and a local seminarian taking a class at the University were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing, although the University has since indicated that, following a disciplinary investigation, the students are unlikely to face penalties from Princeton greater than probation.

Abigail Anthony
National Review

Excerpt: Princeton University faculty passed a non-binding resolution on Monday calling for disciplinary and legal amnesty for students arrested for the pro-Palestinian encampment and occupation of a university building. The resolution passed 154–136, with eight abstentions.