Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

Tigers for Israel, Chabad art installation raises questions about U. policy on symbolic structures

October 12, 2024 1 min read

Miriam Waldvogel
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: An art installation on Wednesday, Oct. 8 sponsored by Tigers for Israel (TFI) and Chabad House on the Frist North Lawn, which was meant to draw awareness to the Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, may be the first test case of the University’s policy on symbolic structures following last spring’s ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment.’
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Kansas Prof Removed after Viral Video of Classroom Remarks

October 11, 2024 1 min read

Keith E. Whittington
Reason Magazine

Excerpt: A health sports instructor at the University of Kansas is out of a job after a video clip of his in-class behavior went viral. The university's statements do not inspire confidence, even though the professor might well have been out of bounds.
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Commentary: Through a flawed ‘community input’ process, Princeton delays action during a genocide

October 11, 2024 1 min read 1 Comment

Sofia Menemenlis, Jessica Ng, Hellen Wainaina, and Givarra Azhar Abdullah
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: At the CPUC meeting on Sept. 30, Resources Committee Chair Jay Groves announced the establishment of an online portal to solicit “community input” on the divestment proposal, which would remain open for 12 days. With respect to the mechanics of this process, Groves indicated that the Committee did not have specific plans for how it would consider the feedback it was soliciting, nor whether and how it would meet with interested groups.

Setting aside broader questions about the role of “consensus” in situations of social injustice, we write to express our concern with this post-hoc, poorly defined, and inadequately communicated process.
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Commentary: Using faculty meetings to declare political positions undermines Princeton’s mission

October 10, 2024 1 min read

Flora Champy, Stephen Macedo, Leora Batnitzky, Jonathan Mummolo, Sanjeev Kulkarni, Eve Krakowski, and Emmanuel Bourbouhakis
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: The freedom of each Princeton faculty member to speak candidly on all manner of issues is indispensable. If faculty cannot express a broad range of intellectual views, including controversial ones, then the University’s mission to further human knowledge and educate students to become discerning, thoughtful citizens cannot be fully realized.

That is why we are supporting a proposal to modify the Rules & Procedures of the Faculty at Princeton to limit faculty meeting votes to matters directly concerning University governance. By extension, this measure would preclude votes that force faculty to take stances on political issues that lie outside of the faculty’s jurisdiction. We urge all our colleagues to vote in favor of this measure at the upcoming faculty meeting on Oct. 21.
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Multiple pro-Palestine demonstrations held in days leading up to Oct. 7, graffiti investigated

October 09, 2024 1 min read

Annie Rupertus, Nikki Han, and Miriam Waldvogel
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: Several pro-Palestine student organizations held sparsely attended demonstrations on campus on the days leading up to Monday, Oct. 7, which marks one year since Hamas’s attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

While most of this week’s actions occurred near Firestone, some University employees arriving to work Monday morning were greeted by pro-Palestine graffiti at the entrance to 22 Chambers St., where the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) is headquartered.
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Commentary: When free speech isn’t free: Princeton’s suppression of low-income students

October 09, 2024 1 min read

Raf Basas
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: However, even as Princeton has undertaken proactive efforts to improve equity among FLI students, its punitive aid-related policies contradict and complicate this history. As stated in Princeton’s financial aid terms, students who “repeat a semester for disciplinary reasons” are not “eligible for a Princeton University grant for the repeated portion of the term.”

Princeton has already indicated its willingness to arrest students for exercising their right to free speech. By withholding the financial aid of suspended students, Princeton disproportionately suppresses the free speech of low-income students.
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