Princeton claims it is “committed to free and open inquiry in all matters” and promises to promote “a lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation,” according to the University’s Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities.
The University is not living up to these high ideals. A recent survey of conservative students on campus conducted by the Tory found that 71 percent feel that Princeton does not create an environment where their beliefs are accepted without judgment, while only 10 percent feel that it creates an environment where their beliefs are accepted without judgment. Seventy-nine percent of conservative students believe that a random student at Princeton is likely to think less of them after learning they identify as conservative.
These statistics are worrisome. They reflect that one side of the political spectrum does not feel they can freely express their ideas and pursue any semblance of the “lively and fearless freedom of debate” promised by the University. At an institution committed to openness to inquiry, a group that represents roughly 50 percent of the population should not feel that their views are considered so beyond the pale as not to be acceptable in debate.
Campus groups such as Princeton’s Chapter of Enlightened Women (NeW), The Federalist Society, and the Tory create communities in which conservatives feel comfortable expressing beliefs that many do not feel comfortable expressing publicly. In fact, 87 percent of conservatives felt comfortable sharing their true beliefs within these groups, a stark contrast to the general population.
This begs the question why do conservative students feel so uncomfortable expressing their beliefs to their peers in the first place? Answers to this question can be partially found in The Daily Princetonian’s Frosh Survey.
According to the Frosh Survey, conservatives are very much in the minority as only 11.4 percent of members of the incoming class of 2026 identified as somewhat to thoroughly right-leaning. This begs the question: does the University strive to admit the diverse and representative population that it claims? If roughly 36 percent of the US population self-identifies as conservative and only 11.4 percent of students consider themselves to be somewhat right-leaning, it is no wonder that conservatives do not feel comfortable expressing their beliefs in an environment in which they are drastically underrepresented.
The University needs to do more to admit an ideologically diverse group of students and to create an environment where students of all different beliefs feel comfortable sharing their opinions. In order to do this, it must emphasize the importance of considering alternative political perspectives during academic inquiry and admit more students from traditionally underrepresented conservative groups such as rural communities and Appalachia. It must strive to remain true to its mission of diversity of thought by exposing students to both sides of the political spectrum in their course work and make a more active attempt to hire faculty with a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives.
These would be a mere start to reversing the decades of woke-ification that have shaped this University. Until these goals are realized, most Princeton conservatives will continue to keep their views to themselves.
The above is an opinion contribution and reflects the author’s views alone.
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