Letter to President Eisgruber

On April 7, the alumni group known as ’72 Friends for Reproductive Justice (founded several years ago by women in the class of 1972 in response to our classmate Justice Samuel Alito ’72’s authorship of the Dobbs opinion) wrote a letter to President Eisgruber to thank him for his courageous and principled stand in support of academic freedom. Since then, many of our fellow alumni have written asking to add their signature to the letter. Since some of the readers of PAW may also want to join us in thanking President Eisgruber, we want to make the text available to them as well. The text and the original signers follow:

Dear President Eisgruber:

We, the undersigned Women of Princeton, Class of 1972, and friends, want to express our profound appreciation for your Atlantic essay, “The Cost of the Government’s Attack on Columbia,” your March 21, 2025, interview with Jeffrey Brown of PBS on the topic of recent government attacks on research universities, and your April 1 statement to the New York Times following the suspension of several dozen federal grants.

We respect the clear and principled stand you have taken for the university, as well as yourself. It is a joy and a relief to join you in affirming that our beloved University must be unwavering in its commitment to academic freedom and anti-discrimination in all its manifestations. 

While these words may seem ordinary, they represent the heart of excellence. Without unfettered academic freedom in support of humanity’s highest potential, every discipline, every department, indeed every individual endeavor is made smaller and allowed to be less curious. At its worst there is a direct path to authoritarian repression when necessary conversations addressing the enormous challenges of our time are limited or constrained.

Thank you for placing these events in historical perspective. It is our wish that the proven partnership between government and the academy, enshrined over many decades, be fortified by present scrutiny and move forward undeterred in service of meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

As proud Princeton graduates it is our hope and belief that our work, our volunteer activities and our lives remain grounded in the values that your words so perfectly represent.

In light of the government’s recent suspension of monies that Congress approved, we encourage you to hold firm to your stated beliefs. As you put it to the PBS NewsHour, “Academic freedom is a fundamental principle of universities — it has to be protected … . And so I have concerns if universities make concessions about that. And I think that once you make concessions once, it’s hard not to make them again.” 

With our deep gratitude,

Susan Squier ’72

Helene Fromm ’72

Sherry Leiwant ’72

Judith White ’72

Daryl English ’72

Barbara Julius ’72

Helena Novakova ’72

Meggan Moorehead ’72

Elaine Chan ’72

Carol Obertubessing ’72

Doug Harrison ’72

Ann Sease Monoyios ’72

Sue Tuthill Schiess ’73

June Fletcher ’72

Mary Caroline McLeod ’72

Carol Rahn ’72

Elizabeth M. Landes ’73

Nancy Teaff ’73

Ruby Huttner ’72

Beth N. Rom-Rymer ’72 

Diana Foster ’72

Macie Green VanRensselaer ’73

Elizabeth Houghton ’72

Charles Schiess ’72

Maurice D. Lee, III ’72

Joan Matthews ’72

Marsha H. Levy-Warren ’72

Larissa Brown ’72

Aida del Valle ’73

Ellen Hymowitz ’73

Daniel Gardner ’72

William Fawley ’72