Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

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.

Marisa Warman Hirschfield ‘27

 I worry that many progressives are abandoning free speech as a core value of our movement, endorsing it only when politically advantageous. “We believe in a diverse set of thoughts,” a University of Wisconsin student told the Associated Press earlier this year. “But when your thought is predicated on the subjugation of me or my people, or to a generalized people, then we have problems.” FIRE president Greg Lukianoff told the New York Times that in the current era, libertarians and conservatives are more often the champions of free speech.

Khoa Sands ‘26

Attend a free speech-themed event at Princeton, or read any of our articles on the Princetonians for Free Speech website and you will encounter a familiar phrase, so ubiquitous it has almost become cliche: the “truth-seeking mission of the university.” Many defenders of academic freedom frame the debate in terms of a conflict over the fundamental telosof the academy (I myself have done this several times.) Is the mission of the university the pursuit of truth, or is it a socio-political goal? Whatever this socio-political goal, whether the radical social equality of Herbert Marcuse or the fascism of the Nazis, when the university dedicates itself towards political ends, truth suffers, freedom is extinguished and the academic vocation is compromised. Therefore, in order to protect free speech in the academy, we must reiterate and defend the mission of the university as the pursuit of truth. But what if we have it all wrong? 

Sena Chang and Nikki Han
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: At 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of the founders of Hamas, addressed a crowd of 350 in McCosh 10. Yousef, a brash, outspoken supporter of Israel, rejected the idea of Palestinian ethnicity, stating that the notion was “psychological” and rooted in “a narrative of victimhood.” Yousef was greeted with raucous applause.

At the same time, approximately 980 feet away, an event constructing a case for the legal recognition of Palestinians was underway. Rabea Eghbariah, a human rights scholar and legal expert, was introduced by an applauding audience in Robertson 002 as part of the Princeton Palestinian Studies Colloquium. The event, sponsored by multiple departments on campus including Near Eastern Studies and African American Studies, packed the room of about 120.