Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

Abigail Rabieh 
Daily Princetonian 

Excerpt: It’s been my belief that going outside of Princeton to complain about Princeton’s functioning is always wrong. The benefit of a small community is precisely its opportunity to voice your beliefs in an open forum, one that is easy to access and easy to get responses. It is not hard to publish a letter in the ‘Prince,’ and the entire undergraduate community can be accessed via an email listserv. This, of course, guarantees no changes — I know well that the University is not accountable to its constituents. But that’s just the nature of the University: it’s a place where you subordinate yourself to receive an education. 

It seems I’ve been playing by outdated rules, however, because this is not how most people interact with Princeton.

Abby Leibowitz
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: A month after Donald Trump’s reelection and the red wave that swept down-ballot elections in New Jersey and across the United States, public policy lecturer Lynda Dodd joined Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey, for a private presentation held at the Princeton Public Library on Dec. 15. They discussed New Jersey’s potential to build “firewalls of freedom” — safeguards based on actions that governors, attorney generals, and statewide officials can take locally to protect communities made vulnerable by potential Trump policies.

Indivisible Princeton, a local chapter of the organization Indivisible formed by Ezra Levin GS ’13 in 2017 in response to Trump’s first election, hosted the event as its ”relaunch meeting.”

Michelle Miao and Nate Howard
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Since Nov. 5, Princeton commentators from across the political spectrum have misrepresented progressive Kamala Harris supporters.

On one hand, columnist Julianna Lee ’25 wrote a well-intentioned but misinformed op-ed characterizing left-leaning students at Princeton in broad strokes as stuck inside the Orange Bubble and unwilling to engage with other perspectives. On the other hand, certain members of the leftist community have spent more time denigrating Democrats than working to fight fascism. On both of these counts, we would like to set the record straight.

Peter Berkowitz
RealClear Politics

Excerpt: Most selective colleges and universities receive substantial federal funds – tens and even hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year for student aid and faculty research. Since Title VI contains no exceptions to its prohibition on raced-based discrimination, it also bars racism that is systemic. Thinking along these lines, in 2020, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos attempted to hold Princeton University accountable for the systemic racism it claimed was lodged there.

Entertaining and instructive as was her gambit, the Trump administration should not repeat it. That’s because systemic racism does not plague the nation’s colleges and universities, and government should not legitimize frivolous claims that it does.

Alex Norbrook
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: A broad swath of researchers employed by the federal government are set to be forced out of their jobs — and Princeton can do something about it.

Across the board, President-elect Donald Trump plans to bring a hatchet to the federal civil service. He has spoken about slashing positions from key government departments, scattering federal agency headquarters across the country to trigger resignations, and potentially driving more federal employees out by weaponizing government institutions for his benefit. As these actors begin to dismantle public research infrastructure, Princeton must position itself as a sanctuary institution for displaced researchers.

Julie Bonette
Princeton Alumni Weekly

Excerpt: The pressure on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at colleges across the nation has been building, and the campaign and subsequent reelection of President Donald Trump has only intensified concerns of many DEI advocates.

But Princeton administrators have voiced steadfast support of DEI initiatives. Michele Minter, the University’s vice provost for institutional equity and diversity, has “seen the national climate get much more complex around some of these issues,” and she acknowledges that “many other campuses are facing some very significant attacks.” She credits the support of University presidents Shirley Tilghman and Christopher Eisgruber ’83 for Princeton’s commitment to and expansion of DEI work despite necessary adjustments to accommodate evolving legal and regulatory requirements.