Regarding the conversation moderated by Mark Bernstein ’83 in the September issue (“The University, Social Justice, and Free Inquiry”), we write to represent the viewpoint of Concerned Black Alumni of Princeton, a collective of more than 400 alumni who support Princeton’s continuing evolution into an anti-racist institution while remaining a bastion of free speech.
Since the University community’s life cannot fully flourish when issues of personhood, human rights, and dignity remain unsettled, we applaud PAW for bringing together professors Carolyn Rouse, Paul Starr, and Harvard’s Randall Kennedy ’77 to discuss free-speech considerations. In particular, we agree with Professor Rouse who, by citing the Peter Singer debate, shows how improperly facilitated inclusivity weakens, even stymies, free academic inquiry. In that instance, disability-rights lawyer Harriet McBryde Johnson — herself severely disabled — could merely observe the debate about whether society should value lives such as hers. A more enriching, humane approach would include such a person in the debate, since questioning someone’s very existence challenges that person’s rights and dignity.
Likewise, as Black alumni, we accept President Eisgruber ’83’s invitation to join him in implementing anti-racist initiatives. To that end, we encourage additional signatures to our petition (https://cutt.ly/CBAP) reinforcing the faculty’s call for Princeton to establish a center dedicated to eradicating systemic racism and to convene a symposium on Princeton’s continuing work to combat racism. We appreciate President Eisgruber’s inclusive leadership and join him in commitment to promoting excellence through respect for the scholarship and individuals of our diverse academic community, as we learn from one another in service to our nation and to humanity.