After the woke take down Witherspoon, if they succeed, who might be next? Maybe President (of the United States) James Madison, Founding genius and drafter of the First Amendment? A Princeton graduate (1771), Madison stayed on an extra year to study under Witherspoon and lends his name to the university’s James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service. He had far more than two slaves. Would Princeton spare the two iconic paintings of George Washington — with his hand on a cannon and with the College of New Jersey, as Princeton was then known, in the background during the Battle of Princeton, and at ease after winning it — by Charles Willson Peale, who himself experienced the battle firsthand?
Isaac Barsoum
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: Leftists at Princeton cheer the assassination of Charlie Kirk — at least, that’s what you would think if you’ve been reading the Opinion section of this newspaper lately. On Sept. 17, Tigers for Israel President Maximillian Meyer ’27 declared that Princeton’s progressives exhibit “a willingness to cheer violence itself.” Princeton Tory Publisher Zach Gardner ’26 didn’t go quite so far, but did say that students “treat bloodshed flippantly,” at least in the context of Kirk’s assassination.
Here’s one problem: large portions of both their arguments rest on evidence drawn from Fizz. For the uninitiated, Fizz is a campus social media app where any Princeton student can say anything at all, true or false, behind the veil of anonymity. It is remarkable that I have to say this: Fizz is not real life.
Cynthia Torres
Daily Princetonian
Excerpt: About three-quarters of the way into an interview with The Daily Princetonian, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 made a bold pronouncement: “American universities are the best that they’ve ever been.”
Eisgruber has been in the business of speaking up for universities since the beginning of the Trump administration, which has put unprecedented pressure on Princeton and its peer institutions. His new book, “Terms of Respect,” argues, as the book’s subtitle reads, “how colleges get free speech right.” Despite the perception of intolerance on American college campuses, Eisgruber writes, colleges still host thriving and robust discourse.
By Marisa Hirschfield ‘27
On September 17th, Harvard Law School professor Jeannie Suk Gersen delivered the annual Constitution Day Lecture in McCosh 50. The lecture, co-hosted by the James Madison Program and the Program in Law and Normative Thinking, was entitled “Our Civil Rights Revolution.” Professor Gersen discussed the history of affirmative action and the evolving meaning of civil rights.
James R. Wells, '46
April 05, 2024
Such nonsense!!! Don’t the spoiled children attending Princeton these days, know they have a rare privilege to grow up in a classical surrounding? They are there to learn – not dispense their childish beliefs.
They might well adapt the concept of maintaining an open mind, and inquiring as to what they might discover as they struggle to mature, rather than egotistically supposing they are already blessed with sufficient knowledge to make judgements regarding how Princeton should be governed and what portions of the past are worthy (in their self-deluded mind) to be retained. Take time to grow up, little ones; you’re there to acquire wisdom – not dispense it.
JRW