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The Princetonians for Free Speech staff is small -- but mighty -- in our passion for fueling the fight for free speech at Princeton and across campuses nationwide!
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Angela Smith has over 20 years’ experience in the private and nonprofit sectors with expertise in philanthropy, organizational leadership, marketing and events. She is the inaugural Executive Director of Princetonians for Free Speech, responsible for driving strategic growth and impact to promote free speech and academic freedom at Princeton, as well as other universities.
Previously, she served as Executive Vice President of the Badger Institute, a Wisconsin-based think tank, building visibility, brand awareness and financial resources, and a donor-advised fund, leading communications, events, philanthropic relationships and strategy to help facilitate charitable giving conversations. Prior to her tenure in nonprofit, Smith spent 10 years in the private sector, executing business-to-business marketing strategies in banking, manufacturing and SaaS.
She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin. She is a Southeastern Wisconsin native and lives in the area with her two children.
"Human nature reveals the necessity to pursue truth. As college students in a rigorous academic environment, we are given a special opportunity for this pursuit. We are given the chance to understand, challenge, and grapple with not only our own beliefs, but also with the beliefs of others. We must therefore have a sincere and resolute dedication to free speech and free expression, for it is only through open and honest dialogue that truth is revealed."
Abigail Readlinger ‘27 is studying Politics with a minor in History. Her activities include Princeton Pro-Life, Aquinas Institute for Catholic Life, Orange Key Tour Guide, Campus Visit Ambassador, and occasional contributor to The Princeton Tory. A Princeton local, she is excited to represent both her university and hometown as a PFS Writing Fellow.
"Freedom of speech is no freedom if it remains an immutable idea on a framed paper. It is the act of discussing, challenging, and exercising one's freedom of speech that makes this freedom alive."
"When agreement becomes the default, critical thinking dies. Intellectual progress requires dissenting voices, uncomfortable questions, and the courage to speak up. As students, we must ensure those principles are actively defended on campus."
"Free speech is not the freedom to be right. It is the freedom to be wrong in public, to be challenged, and to discover that you were wrong. Without dissent, our beliefs become convictions we have never truly tested, and without disagreement, our pursuit of truth becomes an echo chamber."
"Freedom of speech lies at the heart of the University’s truth-seeking mission. A meaningful education requires exposure to challenging ideas, and that is only possible when students are free to engage in open discourse and academic debate. Protecting free speech and academic freedom is therefore essential to the pursuit of knowledge."
