At Harvard Talk, Princeton President Says Colleges Should Set Clear Time, Manner, Place Rules for Protests
Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber said at Harvard talk on Wednesday that universities should enforce clear time, place, and manner rules against student protesters — and refuse to negotiate with activists while they are violating university rules. The Princeton president’s talk, which was moderated by Harvard College Dean David J. Deming drew dozens of […]
The Push for Viewpoint Diversity Misses the Point
Much of the controversy around the Trump administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” has focused on its push for viewpoint diversity and the claim that open inquiry does not exist in our classrooms. That push builds on a long-standing conservative critique that today makes hay out of the fact that the vast majority […]
No, Heckling Is Not Protected Speech
Recent essay in these pages by Charles F. Walker posits that the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s rankings don’t actually measure the speech climate of college campuses because they penalize colleges for disruptive speech that is constitutionally protected. Walker’s argument is rooted in a number of misconceptions, not the least of which is that […]
Colleges Face a Financial Reckoning. The University of Chicago Is Exhibit A.
The school that produced Milton Friedman and 34 other Nobel Prize-winning economists is struggling to manage its pocketbook. The University of Chicago ran budget deficits for 14 years straight, spending big on new labs, dorms and technology to raise its profile and enrollment. Now it’s facing a financial reckoning. Over the summer, university leaders said […]
Harvard says it’s been giving too many A grades to students
More than half of the grades handed out at Harvard College are A’s, an increase from decades past even as school officials have sounded the alarm for years about rampant grade inflation. About 60% of the grades handed out in classes for the university’s undergraduate program are A’s, up from 40% a decade ago and […]
‘Too woke’: Former provost talks with TransparUNCy about free speech in higher ed
Former Provost Christopher Clemenssat down with Toby Posel, the co-founder of the student organization TransparUNCy, 16 days after suing the University and all 14 members of the UNC Board of Trustees, to discuss contentious conflicts in higher education and their implications for free speech. The panel took place on UNC’s First Amendment Day. The event, […]
The Ideal of the University
Philosophy Professor Jennifer A. Frey of the University of Tulsa delivered a lecture on October 21, 2025 titled “What is a University and How Can We Recover It?” as part of the James Madison Program’s Stuart Lecture Series on Institutional Corruption in America. Professor Frey explored the historical vocation of the university and the crisis […]
Columbia’s ‘Listening Table’ Band-Aid Can’t Heal Institutional Rot
Columbia University is trying, at least in part, to heal. Some students and faculty sincerely want to restore a sense of shared community after a year of turmoil. Others remain defiant and still steeped in the same antagonism, ideological rigidity, and anti-Semitism that poisoned campus life to begin with. The university’s latest experiment, the Listening […]
Stop Meeting Students Where They Are
Over the past several years, a common refrain in education has been that educators need to “meet students where they are.” Equally common is the promise to do just that—and we’re hearing it more and more in North Carolina. The idea of “meeting students where they are” is most commonly invoked in non-academic contexts… Continue […]
Turning the Tide: A Candid Conversation with Dr. Robert George
Princetonians for Free Speech recently hosted a timely conversation featuring Dr. Robert George, Director of the James Madison Program at Princeton University. In this wide-ranging discussion, Dr. George reflects on the principles that sustain a free and open university, civil discourse, moral courage, and the pursuit of truth amid growing polarization. The event, recorded on […]
