Princeton Free Speech News & Commentary

By Danielle Shapiro

Excerpt: Watching the Class of 2023’s Commencement, I felt grateful, nostalgic, and pensive. Liminal periods implore us to consider our place within the world and the decisions we’ve made at each stage. Speaking before the graduating class, President Eisgruber offered his own commentary, praising the work of political activists for their commitment to Princeton’s motto, “In the Nation’s Service and the Service of Humanity.”

By Adrienne Lu
Chronicle of Higher Education

Excerpt: As a growing number of colleges around the country have stopped using diversity statements, a lawsuit filed against the University of California system in May appears to be the first to directly challenge their legality. Experts are divided on whether the use of such statements by public colleges will pass legal muster.

By Jessica Wills
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Excerpt: Princeton University is one of the worst colleges for free speech in the country, according to FIRE’s annual College Free Speech Rankings. But just how bad is it?

By Emily Aronson, Office of Communications Princeton University

Excerpt: “We must stand up and speak up together for the values of free expression and full inclusivity for people of all identities,” Eisgruber said, followed by rousing applause from the students, families, friends and other guests seated inside Princeton Stadium. “To all of you who receive your undergraduate or graduate degree from Princeton University today: Your help is urgently needed — now!” he said. “So, as you go forth from this University, let your voices rise. Let them rise for equality. Let them rise for the value of diversity. Let them rise for freedom, for justice, and for love among the people of this earth.”

By Isabel Yip
Daily Princetonian

Excerpt: With a looming Supreme Court decision that experts predict will strike down affirmative action, University President Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83 maintained that the University will find ways to achieve a diverse campus in an annual address to alumni delivered during Reunions.

By Ronen Shoval
Minding the Campus

Excerpt: In 1927, Julien Benda’s The Treason of the Intellectuals denounced those who would forsake truth in service of political aims. Nearly a century later, as a researcher and lecturer at Princeton University, I’m embroiled in a modern-day version of Benda’s tale. Indeed, I have become the target of a campaign to eradicate intellectual diversity on campus.