Princeton’s Political Pablum

Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber made a bold move at a recent graduation ceremony by scolding the Republican Party for suppressing campus speech. In his commencement address, Eisgruber quoted a “queer” University of Florida student and warned that it is becoming increasingly difficult for students and professors to speak their minds about controversial issues. He blamed red state laws that prohibit discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity, teaching disfavored views about race, racism, and American history, and even abolishing tenure, thereby enabling politicians to control what professors can teach or publish.

However, this speech was met with criticism due to the fact that Princeton and Eisgruber have a history of suppressing free speech on campus. Last May, the school dismissed a star classics professor, Joshua Katz, who had been a vocal critic of the school’s racial politics. The reason given for the ouster was widely seen as pretextual, and pundits accused Princeton of retaliating against a tenured faculty member for political speech. Eisgruber had publicly condemned an essay Katz wrote in 2020 attacking the university’s campus activists. And Princeton had included the professor on a list of racists presented to freshmen at a mandatory orientation session who’d allegedly harmed the school’s good name.

Despite this history, Eisgruber claimed that it is “wrong” to frame diversity and inclusivity as threats to academic freedom. However, Princeton’s own free speech policies make nearly the opposite point, stating that concerns about civility and mutual respect can never be used as a justification for closing off discussion of ideas, however offensive or disagreeable.

Ironies in a Tone-Deaf Speech

Eisgruber’s speech was tone-deaf and full of ironies. A recent survey of Princeton seniors found that just 3 percent of “leftist” students are afraid to share their views, compared with 64 percent of those who identify as “very” conservative. At Ohio State, 45 percent of conservative students say they self-censor “several times a month” while just 16 percent of liberals say the same. It takes a special kind of blindness, hypocrisy, and sheer partisan animus to conclude in this day and age that Republicans are the biggest threat to free expression on college campuses.

• Use of quotes from a “queer” University of Florida student
• Blaming red state laws for suppressing campus speech
• History of suppressing free speech on campus
• Claiming diversity and inclusivity are not threats to academic freedom
• Survey results showing conservative students self-censor more than liberal students

Eisgruber’s speech was an embarrassing epitaph for free speech at Princeton. Rest in peace.