Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

Frances Brogan
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: On May 30, Larry Giberson ’23 graduated from Princeton with a degree in Politics. His graduation deserves attention because he participated in the January 6th riots at the Capitol. He has identified himself in photos at the riot and recently pleaded guilty to a felony charge of interfering with police during a civil disorder. So why did Princeton grant him a degree?

Menachem Wecker
Jewish News Syndicate

Excerpt: A 2017 book that is part of a sample reading list for an upcoming Princeton University humanities course has drawn charges of antisemitic blood libels. It also raises broad questions about academic freedom and what kinds of scholarship are appropriate for classroom study.

Princeton Job Ad placed on Chronicle of Higher Education Jobs
 
Excerpt: Princeton University seeks a strategic and visionary leader to serve as Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Belonging, and Well-Being. Providing holistic synergies for student life, the successful candidate will also serve as the Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The AVP will lead the development of new initiatives to provide intentional focus and accountability for diversity, equity, inclusiveness, and belonging efforts across Campus Life while working with and encouraging collaboration and cohesion among existing efforts and programs.

Keith Whittington
Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA)

Excerpt: We are dismayed by the reports that you suspended and launched an investigation of a member of your faculty for comments she made as a guest lecturer in a college class. We are relieved that the investigation was eventually dropped, but it never should have been launched in the first place. This affair shows a disturbing lack of concern with academic freedom principles in the Texas A&M System.

Keith Whittington
Reason Magazine

Excerpt: I am pleased to see that my latest article on the efforts of state legislatures to restrict what ideas professors can endorse in the classroom has now been published. "Professorial Speech, the First Amendment, and Legislative Restrictions on Classroom Discussions" appears in the latest issue of the Wake Forest Law Review.

Keith Whittington
Chronicle of Higher Education

Excerpt: Professors speak and write in a wide range of contexts, in all of which they receive, however unevenly, some level of protection under college policies, traditional academic-freedom principles, and First Amendment doctrine. Those First Amendment protections just took a hit in a newly issued opinion by a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.