No Disruption? No Discipline

Protest isn’t what it used to be, it seems. Graduate students who entered several East Pyne classes March 8 as part of the International Women’s Day strike will not be disciplined. The reason: They were very polite.

“There was no disruption,” said Princeton spokesman Daniel Day after a University investigation. “They knocked on the door, asked the professors if it was OK for them to come in and read a statement, and the professors agreed.” The students read their statement and then filed out, he said. 

Following the incident, more than 30 senior faculty members signed a letter to President Eisgruber ’83 expressing concern about an “invasion” of classrooms and “bullying” by students. 

But Sarah-Jane Leslie *07, dean of the Graduate School, said the faculty letter had been based on initial accounts of the incident that were inaccurate. She said a letter was sent to all grad students around the time of the protest to remind them of University policies. “It is not permissible to forcibly disrupt a class,” she said. “However, faculty are certainly free to welcome speakers into their classes. And that was what we found happened in this case.”