Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

‘An existential crisis’: The faculty research stopped after research grants suspended

April 16, 2025 1 min read

Luke Grippo 
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Professor of Civil Engineering Peter Jaffé began researching industrial cleaning chemicals 20 years ago. In 2016, he decided to focus his research on developing ways to biodegrade perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals are widely used in everyday consumer and industry products — although we are also exposed to them in our food, water, and air.

After six years of federal funding, Jaffé says that he and his team have found a way to biodegrade these chemicals. An almost $2 million grant for a field demonstration was the next step. However, this funding was lost on April 1, when several dozen grants awarded to University researchers from NASA, the DOD, and the Department of Energy (DOE) were suspended, reportedly worth at least $210 million.

Read More

John McWhorter, Cornel West & Robert George – Truth, Faith, and Reason in an Age of Division

April 15, 2025 1 min read

April 15, 2025

John McWhorter, Cornel West & Robert George – Truth, Faith, and Reason in an Age of Division on The Glenn Show

Watch here

Read More

Princeton students must be open-minded judges

April 15, 2025 1 min read

Jorge Reyes
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: During her visit to campus last week, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor challenged students’ levels of civic engagement and willingness to move past political dogma. In response to a question about what citizens should do when they disagree with a court’s decision, she asked the large crowd of Princeton students: “Has everyone in this room read even one Supreme Court decision from beginning to end? How many of you can raise your hand?” Few hands went up.

Read More

‘Climate anxiety’: Trump cuts funding for Princeton’s K-12 climate change program

April 14, 2025 1 min read

Matt Lamb 
College Fix

Excerpt: Taxpayers will no longer subsidize a Princeton University program that induces “climate anxiety” among K-12 students, according to the Trump administration.

The Department of Commerce “announced that nearly $4 million in funding is ending to Princeton University,” according to an April 8 news release. The decision followed “a detailed, careful, and thorough review of the Department’s financial assistance programs against National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s…current program objectives.”

Read More

Congress requests documents from University in price-fixing investigation

April 14, 2025 1 min read

Luke Grippo 
Daily Princetonian 

Excerpt: Congressional Republicans have launched an investigation into the financial aid practices of all eight Ivy League universities, including Princeton, accusing the universities of collectively raising the tuition prices. The probe follows broader scrutiny of higher education from the federal government, and it comes as Princeton officials have said they are committed to protecting financial aid.

The letter requested wide-ranging documents related to University admissions, financial aid, and communications between University administrators and college application-assistance websites such as the College Board and the Common Application. The University has until next Tuesday to release these documents to the committee.

Read More

Commentary: Can Trump really do that to universities?

April 11, 2025 1 min read

Alice Dreger
Free the Inquiry, Heterodox Academy

Excerpt: Add Northwestern and Cornell to the growing list of universities whose federal funding is being threatened because of alleged failure to appropriately manage antisemitism on those campuses.

To help our readers understand what’s going on — and why it is legally questionable and a problem for open inquiry — I asked Heterodox Academy (HxA) Director of Policy Joe Cohn to answer some questions about this scene.

Read More