Dear Princeton Class of ’29:
This letter comes to you from the alumni organization, Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS). We have existed since you started high school four years ago. We were founded in response to a growing concern that Princeton has drifted from its core mission of the pursuit of knowledge and truth, and towards a narrow activism that threatens free speech, academic freedom, and viewpoint diversity.
We do not need to tell you that since PFS’s founding, controversy around elite higher education has exploded onto the national stage. Princeton’s future is on the line, along with all elite universities. We sincerely hope that the current controversies, however much Princeton’s administration is impacted, do not undermine your college experience. You may find, however, a campus culture that discourages, sometimes explicitly, expressing controversial viewpoints, one that undermines free and open debate.
Last April, when you were deciding whether to come to Princeton, the Princeton Tory published the article Tigertown Blues: A Conservative Princetonian’s Freshman Year, by Antonio Settembrino from the class of ’28.
Settembrino’s freshman year experience is one reason why Princetonians for Free Speech exists. The article is a powerful statement that Settembrino made as his freshman year ended — a story of disappointment and disillusionment due to an intolerant campus culture. Fortunately, it ends on a positive note. Some of you may experience something similar.
After the warm welcome during Orientation, at which Princeton made a strong commitment to incoming students to a campus culture of respect for a wide range of viewpoints and civil debate, Settembrino was shocked to find how quickly this commitment showed its limits.
“I was told during Orientation that Princeton is made up of people from many different places, and that is part of its beauty and ingenuity. My fellow freshmen seemed to share this sentiment, believing we should exit our ‘algorithmic echo chambers’ by engaging with different ideas. Simultaneously, however, fellow students warned me that if I expressed my conservative values in forums like the Tory, people would refuse to talk to or help me. As I struggled to adjust to college-level work, I immediately felt alone and ostracized from a community I was assured would be tolerant. … I felt that the Princeton community would be there for me, regardless of my beliefs. How wrong I was.”
His experience gets to the heart of what PFS annual student surveys show: Princeton’s stated commitment to free speech, academic freedom, viewpoint diversity, and open discourse, on prominent display during Orientation, often does not align with students’ actual experience. Students in large numbers do not understand what this commitment means – the outlook of respect across differences, of curiosity and tolerance, and the discipline that this requires. And Princeton’s administration has failed to enforce the principles and rules that are meant to animate the culture.
PFS urges that no matter your point of view, you look to Antonio Settembrino’s experience to guide you. He reminds his fellow students:
“Shunning members of the Princeton community, simply on the basis of their beliefs, threatens the very ethos of being a Princetonian by precluding our collective pursuit of knowledge. How can we learn from each other as a community if we cannot communicate civilly? … If Princeton values diversity of thought, and the community claims to support that, then freshmen should apply that same value to their personal interactions.”
PFS is truly non-partisan – we actively support any student from any quarter, whose free speech or academic freedom rights have been undermined. We have current students who serve on our Board of Directors, who write for our newsletter as PFS Writing Fellows, and who work for us on marketing our on-campus and other events. If you are interested in learning more about PFS, please visit our website. If you would like to become involved or to find out more, please be in touch HERE.
We congratulate all incoming freshmen as they embark on their first year. We sincerely hope that you find Princeton a safe place to think and speak freely. If your experience resembles that of Settembrino, take heart that you are not alone.
Sincerely,
Leslie Spencer
Vice-Chair, Princetonians for Free Speech
Angela Smith
Executive Director, Princetonians for Free Speech
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