A few Princeton students and faculty may be more part of the problem of educational decline than a force for its improvement. Recently, in response to a philosophical paper published in HYPATIA by Rebecca Tuvel, an assistant professor of philosophy at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.... questioning the consistency of leftists' vociferously opposing trans-racial choices while supporting trans-genderism equally vociferously, more than 500 self-identified “scholars” signed a petition (https://gendertrender.wordp...decrying the fact that such questions were being asked in the first place.

Unfortunately, these anti-free-speech academics included Catherine Clune-Taylor, Joshua Rivas, and Gayle Salamon, two Princeton graduate students and one Princeton associate professor.

As long as academics insist on openly shaming people that ask and debate important, tough questions, the quality of education will continue to decline in our society. I can only wish that Princeton scholars not be part of that decline.

William F. Swiggart ’77