David L. Evans *66

3 Days Ago

Academic Freedom Anagrams

In Princeton’s 28 decades of storied existence, few — if any — of those 10-year slots experienced the campus changes of the decade I came from; namely, the 1960s.  That was a time when liberal/left faculty members like Professor Hugh Wilson, of the politics department, were still reacting to accusations by the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin of being something like a “Commie Red Façade.”

We, African Americans of those years, represented the largest numbers of Black students ever admitted to Princeton. Moreover, the Civil Rights Movement had shifted into high gear, and the Anti-War Movement was getting started.

It might interest President Eisgruber — and others — that the 15 letters in “Academic Freedom” can be rearranged to generate the following positive and negative reflections: “Decade I came from” and “Commie Red Façade.

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