Daily Princetonian Editorial Board
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: Some institutions have been cowed by threats from the federal government. This acquiescence is dangerous. Complying with constitutionally contested directives before judges rule on their legality normalizes them. As Columbia’s example has taught us, even repeated concessions to the Trump administration won’t protect you. As an institution relatively insulated from financial shocks from the federal government, we have a unique responsibility to speak out. Even among the Ivy League, Princeton’s wealth, prestige, and historical reputation as the most conservative Ivy give the University unique influence.
Christopher L. Eisgruber
The Atlantic
Excerpt: The United States is home to the best collection of research universities in the world. Those universities have contributed tremendously to America’s prosperity, health, and security. They are magnets for outstanding talent from throughout the country and around the world.
The Trump administration’s recent attack on Columbia University puts all of that at risk, presenting the greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare of the 1950s. Every American should be concerned.
Bill Hewitt ‘74
Tiger Roars, Substack
Excerpt: Why did Eisgruber’s administration thrust “Known and Heard” into the Memory Hole? Eisgruber’s slippery defense of the “Known and Heard” presentation remains posted on the Office of the President's website. Recently, a University spokesperson explained, “The Office of Campus Engagement decided to remove the site, given that it had not been used in programming or for educational purposes in several years.” The presentation’s unceremonious extinguishment signals a tacit admission by Eisgruber and company that the “Known and Heard” presentation had deep flaws and is no longer worth defending.
Still standing, but without a word of defense by its sponsor or President Eisgruber, is the profoundly flawed and damaging “John Witherspoon” essay by the Princeton & Slavery Project. This essay subverts Princeton’s mission for “the pursuit of truth . . . and the transmission of knowledge and learning to society at large.”
Elena Eiss, Sophie Miller, Emmett Weisz, and Madeline Denker
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: On Feb. 19, a group of students gathered in a Robertson Hall basement classroom. On the tables before them were two poems: “The Diameter of the Bomb” by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai and “Mimesis” by Palestinian-American poet Fady Joudah, both highlighting the long-lasting effects of war even after peace has been reached. The meeting — organized by our student group J Street U Princeton — marked one month since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Jan. 19.
But heated shouting and partisan divide too often characterize discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Campus activists accuse the University administration of complicity in human rights abuses and make sweeping claims about Israel, alienating their fellow students. Meanwhile, the Trump administration and lobby groups weaponize antisemitism — often in poor faith — conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and breathlessly depicting campuses as hotbeds of Jew-hatred.
Juliana Kim
NPR
Excerpt: The U.S. Department of Education has launched investigations into 52 universities in 41 states, accusing the schools of using "racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities."
Caroline G. Hennigan and Bradford D. Kimball, Crimson Staff Writers
Harvard Crimson
Excerpt: The Harvard Law School student body voted on Thursday to call on the University to divest from Israel — delivering a decisive endorsement of language that Law School administrators harshly criticized before it went up for a vote.
The resolution, which called on Harvard to “divest from weapons, surveillance technology, and other companies aiding violations of international humanitarian law, including Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine,” passed with 72.7 percent of votes in favor, with 842 students participating. Nearly 2,000 students attend HLS.