You would not receive much pushback if you considered Princeton University synonymous with money. Its $36 billion endowment is no secret. While it tries to deflect further ire from the Trump administration, it has already successfully avoided an $180 million endowment tax by offering more financial assistance to students below a certain economic threshold. Dispersing […]
Americans throw around the terms “Nazi,” “fascist,” “Hitler,” and similar words without serious enough consideration for their actual meaning. JD Vance referred to Trump as “America’s Hitler.” We compare foreign regimes to the Third Reich all the time. And many chronically online young men have begun indulging edge-lord Neo-Nazism. None of these three ideas have […]
There is nothing wrong with admitting that Charlie Kirk was controversial. I disagreed with some of his beliefs, just as I disagree with plenty of other political figures. People should be able to criticize his arguments, rhetoric, and politics as strongly as they want. The reaction to his death, however, involved more than mere criticism. […]
What does it mean to be an American? As we reflect on our nation’s semi-quincentennial, the meaning of American identity demands renewed attention. For generations, we have looked backward to the ideals and events of the Founding to understand our origins and, consequently, our future as heirs of this distinctive creedal nation. Yet looking only […]
The American story is most truthfully seen as a patchwork quilt—a living tapestry in which countless threads, each distinct in color, texture, and origin, come together. Like a quilt, these pieces maintain their individuality while contributing to a unified, enduring design that is unmistakably our own. Presenting this enduring mosaic is difficult as it calls […]
As the country prepares for its 250th birthday, there are no shortage of celebratory events to attend. In my hometown of Philadelphia, for example, there have been historical reenactments and other events celebrating revolutionary milestones throughout the year. In Princeton, we have access to opportunities that can enrich our experience of the anniversary. Walking our […]
Wokeness, campus protests, and the instruction of leftist ideas within universities do not erode civil discourse or violate free speech norms. Or so President Christopher Eisgruber argues in his new book, Terms of Respect. Overall, I agree with Eisgruber’s assessment, but there are some conceptual nuances that I will offer in order to refine his […]
The Daily Princetonian recently published an opinion piece entitled: “Humanities lag behind STEM in AI policy. They must catch up.” Its author laments the fact that A.B. students, specifically those studying the humanities, use AI much less frequently than B.S.E. students. He argues that AI will improve learning outcomes and that the humanities’ refusal to […]
“I walk with Plato in my pocket, but I proceed into the world with my eyes wide shut.” In high school, I wrote this phrase in a journal, yet the sentiment persists in haunting any ponderance of my university studies. Our books are caskets that carry dead words of the past. Opening them, we may […]
In George Washington’s undelivered first draft of his first inaugural address, he answered the accusation that he was running for political office to enrich himself. “Divine Providence hath not seen fit,” he wrote, “that my blood should be transmitted or my name perpetuated by the endearing, though sometimes seducing channel of immediate offspring.” In explaining […]
After completing a law enforcement-based internship at a small state park this past summer, it struck me that, unlike being a judicial or finance intern behind a desk hunched over a computer, nothing I had learned at Princeton sufficiently prepared me for a job requiring face-to-face confrontations, real-world leadership, law enforcement procedure, or anything else […]
We hear it all the time: we live in the age of disinformation. Social media users all contain biases and omit/distort truths that make it difficult to know who and what to trust. Our commitment to the right of free expression exacerbates this problem by hindering potential attempts at regulation. However, free speech boasts an […]
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