Moral Leadership

I’ve been reading PAW faithfully for 41 years, and this is the first time I’ve been moved to write. In an era when it often seems we’ve lost our collective moral compass, I found the “moral content” of the Oct. 3 issue to be particularly refreshing and timely. 

First, there was President Eisgruber ’83, reminding incoming students of the bedrock values of honesty, respect, and (oh my!) truth-seeking. This was followed by Gary Nash ’55 *64’s moving story of the Quakers’ petition to the Continental Congress, meeting at Princeton, to end slavery — four years before that “peculiar institution” was written into our Constitution. Finally, there was Dr. Stephen Xenakis ’70’s inspirational recounting of his principled stand against the use of torture by the U.S. military. 

Thank you for providing these vivid reminders of the importance of moral leadership in an often amoral era.