Appropriate Protests

This is in response to Micah Herskind ’19’s letter (Inbox, Dec. 4) dealing with the Baccalaureate protest (“Clashing Views,” July 10).

He mentions my letter, which was posted July 11 at PAW Online. In that brief letter I simply observed that students turning their backs was the equivalent of saying “My mind is made up, don’t bother me with facts” — an attitude that no one who had the blessing of a Princeton education should adopt.

Mr. Herskind says that those who criticize the Baccalaureate protest believe that “no form of protest ... is acceptable.” He contends that to censure protest in a certain way is the same as condemning all forms of protest. At the end of his letter, he invites me to “let us know when you can think of an appropriate way to protest.” I hardly have to think at all. For example, I would remind him that Martin Luther King and other civil-rights leaders demonstrated countless effective and appropriate ways to protest.

I wish Mr. Herskind success in his life as a new member of the Princeton alumni community.