Princeton University president Christopher Eisgruber sent an email today to all undergraduates recognizing that it has been nearly two weeks since a sit-in began on campus. He notes the particularly fraught situation, stating, “Never have I seen our campus more riven with passionate disagreements, disagreements that encompass the war in Gaza as well as issues about Princeton itself.” Eisgruber confirmed that “my colleagues and I are now in direct conversation with the protestors,” adding, “We can consider their concerns through appropriate processes that respect the interests of multiple parties and viewpoints, but we cannot allow any group to circumvent those processes or exert special leverage.” 

Although Eisgruber and administrators are now speaking with the protesters, his email does not offer a particularly positive description of them. I quote at length:

I have heard, for example, from students and faculty members who are concerned about the 11 students and two others arrested at last Monday’s brief takeover of Clio Hall, and about the two students arrested earlier in McCosh Courtyard. They describe poignantly the caring, talented people they know these individuals to be.

I have also seen Graduate School staff break into tears when trying to describe the fright they felt when their building was occupied and surrounded, and when they locked themselves in offices because they believed they could neither safely remain nor safely exit the building.

As the protest activity and rhetoric has intensified, I have heard from members of our community who say that they feel less welcome or secure on campus because they are encountering antisemitic language and behavior that should have no place at Princeton.

As a personal practice, I generally refrain from authoring opinion articles on the precisely the same matters that I have written about for news articles; I strive to provide fair reporting that could be written by someone of any political inclination, and I want to discourage possible misconstruing of my opinions as facts. Accordingly, I won’t offer my opinions about Eisgruber’s email, since I’ve published several news stories about Princeton encampment. Instead, I’ll distill facts: By the Princeton president’s own admission, the university administration is in discussion with protesters affiliated with the activist group that had occupied a building and traumatized staff. (For a full report of the demonstration last Monday, where the outside crowd encircled and banged on a bus that held arrested individuals, see here.)

Current Princeton undergraduate Maximillian Meyer responded to Eisgruber’s email with a post on social media stating, “This is UNACCEPTABLE. Those who terrorize our campus with virulent antisemitism should not be rewarded for their misdeeds, plain and simple.” I will allow National Review readers to decide independently whether meeting with students who occupied a building is “unacceptable.”

Here are some more facts for readers: It is the university’s precedent to meet with a group that has occupied a building. In 2015, the Black Justice League activist organization occupied Eisgruber’s office for roughly 33 hours. Eisgruber did join the students in his office and speak with them. The students’ demands included affinity housing for black students, cultural-competency training for faculty, and the removal of Woodrow Wilson’s name from buildings, among other things. Some demands were granted, such as the promotion of African American Studies from a certificate program to a full department offering a major. 

The university’s stance is clear: The administration is willing to consider — even implement — demands raised by students who occupy buildings.