Thanks so much for this thoughtful essay. I recognized your byline from City Journal but didn't know that you were a fellow Tiger. I was particularly intrigued by your explication of the Stand Up campaign trying to make Princeton look like Caltech ("we're just a bunch of monastic scientists working on a cure for cancer; nothing to see here, move along")
I have long held mixed feelings about the "Trump vs. Elite Universities" discourse.
On one hand, the government should never be in the business of dictating pedagogical decisions by universities, even those that receive federal funding. And it sometimes appears that Trump is cynically exploiting concern about anti-Semitism for ends unrelated to anti-Semitism. ('owning the libs").
On the other hand, Princeton has been quite selective in enforcing its policies on academic freedom/free speech. The Naftali Bennett episode is just the latest in a line dating back to the egregious treatment of Professor Joshua Katz. And the FIRE free speech rating speaks for itself. Also, I'm not totally sure I completely buy Eisgruber's vehement poor-mouthing when challenged to use the endowment instead of federal tax dollars to fund research. (If you've come across an even-handed, non-biased analysis on that particular question, a link would be greatly appreciated.)
One last thought: in my 34 years as an alumnus, I don't recall ever being enlisted to lobby on behalf of the University. I'm not sure how to feel about it - it's certainly not illegal but something just feels "off" about it. I would probably have less qualms if an independent group of alumni were issuing the call.
Look forward to more commentary on this topic over the upcoming months.
Tal,
Thanks so much for this thoughtful essay. I recognized your byline from City Journal but didn't know that you were a fellow Tiger. I was particularly intrigued by your explication of the Stand Up campaign trying to make Princeton look like Caltech ("we're just a bunch of monastic scientists working on a cure for cancer; nothing to see here, move along")
I have long held mixed feelings about the "Trump vs. Elite Universities" discourse.
On one hand, the government should never be in the business of dictating pedagogical decisions by universities, even those that receive federal funding. And it sometimes appears that Trump is cynically exploiting concern about anti-Semitism for ends unrelated to anti-Semitism. ('owning the libs").
On the other hand, Princeton has been quite selective in enforcing its policies on academic freedom/free speech. The Naftali Bennett episode is just the latest in a line dating back to the egregious treatment of Professor Joshua Katz. And the FIRE free speech rating speaks for itself. Also, I'm not totally sure I completely buy Eisgruber's vehement poor-mouthing when challenged to use the endowment instead of federal tax dollars to fund research. (If you've come across an even-handed, non-biased analysis on that particular question, a link would be greatly appreciated.)
One last thought: in my 34 years as an alumnus, I don't recall ever being enlisted to lobby on behalf of the University. I'm not sure how to feel about it - it's certainly not illegal but something just feels "off" about it. I would probably have less qualms if an independent group of alumni were issuing the call.
Look forward to more commentary on this topic over the upcoming months.
Richard Golden '91