Your Cart is Empty
PFS Editorial
May 19, 2026
Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS) today announced a landmark achievement: its email subscriber list has officially surpassed 26,000 verified subscribers, approximately 80% of which are alumni, representing one of the most significant milestones in the organization's history since its founding in late 2020. This high number represents a highly engaged network of supporters committed to preserving the fundamental value of free speech at Princeton.
Why are alumni subscribing to PFS? The landscape of higher education remains in flux. At a time when the principles of open inquiry and free expression are increasingly debated on campuses across the country, PFS stands as a meaningful and growing voice for reform. Princeton's standing in FIRE's 2026 College Free Speech Rankings reflects the urgency: the university ranks 160 out of 257 schools and still earns a grade of "F", even as it moves up from prior years. Alumni have a unique ability to help shape the future of Princeton. PFS promotes objective facts and information, engages students and faculty, and has become the leader in alumni free speech advocacy.
Of the 26,000 subscribers, approximately 80% are alumni (roughly 20,000). That represents approximately 29% of all undergraduate alumni and 21% of all post-graduate alumni. The remaining 20% (approximately 6,000) include parents, spouses, faculty, staff, and general supporters, reflecting PFS's expanding reach well beyond the alumni base. These figures were validated through a comprehensive database project completed in early 2026.
The growth of PFS's email community tells a compelling story. At its inception in late 2020, the organization had 1,400 email subscribers. Between December 2024 and December 2025, the list grew from 1,444 to 16,500 — and has since surpassed 26,000 today. PFS's outreach to subscribers has become a major source of needed awareness of the diminished free speech climate at Princeton. This growing subscriber community is also PFS's most valuable strategic asset: a direct, trusted channel to thousands of Princeton alumni and supporters who can be informed, engaged, and mobilized on the issues that matter most to the future of the University.
"Twenty-six thousand subscribers is not just a number. It is a testament to how deeply this community cares about the principles that make Princeton great, as well as the issues of free speech, viewpoint diversity and academic freedom," said Todd Rulon-Miller ‘73, President and Treasurer of PFS.
If you believe in free inquiry at Princeton, now is the time to make it official: add your name alongside 26,000 alumni and supporters by joining PFS's subscriber community today.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Faith in higher education continues to plummet, and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)—the nation’s leading organization representing faculty interests and a longstanding voice on academic freedom and university governance—has decided to train its guns on the growing movement to establish civic education centers at public universities. The AAUP’s objections amount to a single, unlovely demand: we get to decide what students learn, and nobody else gets a vote.
Six days after the report went online, the AAA fired back with a full-throated defense. “Anthropologists welcome rigorous critique of the discipline,” wrote its president, Carolyn M. Rouse. “What we cannot accept is a sweeping verdict about anthropology’s intellectual culture, scholarly practices, and professional norms built on selective evidence and issued without consultation.
Since faculty voted in may to proctor in-person exams, national news outlets and some alumni have decried the end of Princeton’s 133-year-old tradition of unsupervised testing, but students, faculty, and recent graduates say the conversation within the campus community has been mild.
