This January, I had the pleasure of succeeding Tory publisher William Neumann as the Cliosophic Society (Clio) Chairman. Clio, the right-leaning society within Whig-Clio, regularly hosts notable conservative speakers. On February 26th, we welcomed AEI Senior Fellow Charles Murray to campus for our first event of 2026. Murray has authored well-known books such as Coming Apart and The Bell Curve, which provoked controversy for their respective critiques of American elitism and hereditary intelligence. Clio members listened to Murray lecture on inequality in the United States, asked questions, and conversed with him over dinner at Winberie’s.
Mr. Murray’s talk addressed themes connected to Coming Apart. He explained an ongoing trend that began in the 1960s, when a new, highly educated, affluent elite class emerged whose values and behavior have increasingly diverged from the working class. These elites concentrate in zip code “bubbles” like the town of Princeton, in which they practice certain cultural values (commitment to education, civic engagement, and consumption of highbrow media) that are less common in other zip codes. Murray expressed concern over how this trend has impoverished our shared national culture. The insulation of today’s elites from the rest of the population has divided the country into two distinct populations: the elites and everyone else, living under different rules and expectations.
Murray mentioned that top institutions like Princeton unintentionally contribute to this class divide. He argues that one of the driving causes of our nation’s division is “assortative mating.” By living in zip code bubbles and/or attending prestigious universities like Princeton, elites are likely to find another elite as their significant other. This has important ramifications: in The Bell Curve, Murray found that parents’ IQs strongly influence their children’s IQs. Due to the impact of genetics and privileged parenting practices (reading to babies, extensive individual attention, sending kids to private school, etc.), most future elites will descend from the present elite generation. A large percentage of new Princeton graduates enter top-paying fields like finance, consulting, medicine, and law, consequently joining the elite class. The fact that many of us will hold positions of influence without knowing how the vast majority of the country lives contributes to the nation’s growing class divide and polarization.
To address this issue, Murray argues that we students need to make a more concerted effort to step outside our comfort zones. One student asked Murray how students can resist worsening the class divide, while still working in elite occupations. Murray answered that Princeton students can work prestigious jobs without necessarily being socially remote or ignorant elites. For example, Murray, a graduate of Harvard and MIT, resides in the small town of Burkittsville, Maryland, where he does not solely interact with other renowned academics. He recommends that students change how they spend their college years before entering prestigious careers. Instead of working banking or consulting internships during our freshman and sophomore year summers, Murray encourages us to work jobs outside the office. Working at a national park, a fast-food chain, or a nonprofit can limit elite parochialism. These summer jobs provide students with a broad perspective and invaluable professional skills that traditional white-collar internships do not. By interacting with clients from a wide range of backgrounds, students gain a better understanding of the citizens who compose the United States. The Ivy League has become a rat race for top jobs in academia and corporate America, but we have lost sight of the civic and epistemic responsibilities we bear toward our nation and fellow citizens.
Finally, it is worth noting that the event proceeded without any protests or interruptions. Previously, when visiting Middlebury in 2017, Charles Murray encountered violent protesters who viciously attacked him and seriously injured the professor who hosted him. Fortunately, our event proceeded without any interference. I am extremely grateful that students listened to Charles Murray, rather than censoring him. As former senator Ben Sasse aptly said during a recent interview on 60 Minutes, “the fact that college campuses, once the cornerstone of free expression and open debate, are now among the most intellectually intolerant spaces in America should concern us deeply.” The event’s success stands as a testimony to our campus’s laudable commitment to free speech and the belief that even controversial ideas contribute to the university’s truth-seeking mission.
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