While it is understandable and appropriate for the administration to respect the confidentiality of employees, it seems that the University ought to have taken a more straightforward and honest approach in reporting Calvo’s death. In its initial statements, the University reported that Calvo had passed away while he was on leave of absence. Only later — after the information had predictably been obtained and released by a number of other news agencies — did the University announce that Calvo’s death had been a suicide and that his contract had been terminated. Although the administration should seek to protect its employees’ confidentiality, it should not have been so ambiguous in its initial press releases. Moreover, particularly given the rumors that have been circulating around Calvo’s termination, the University also should announce whether Calvo was released for purely academic reasons or for disciplinary concerns. Such an announcement can remain adequately respectful of employees’ privacy while still assuaging concerns as to whether considerations beyond Calvo’s academic performance led to his termination.
We certainly recognize that the proper functioning of the University requires that not all of the information that the administration possesses be shared with the rest of the Princeton community. Sometimes decisions are made for reasons that must be kept confidential, and as students we have no choice but to trust the administration when it claims that it cannot reveal certain facts and to trust that it properly pursues the interest of the entire campus in making such decisions. Such trust is possible, however, only when we have good reason to think that the administration does make an effort to share information with the student body when it can. In its response to Calvo’s suicide, by contrast, the University has instead appeared to make every effort to reveal as little information as possible, from the disingenuous wording of statements to the delays after which they were issued. Given this response, it is unsurprising that many have continued to seek answers and have responded skeptically to the University’s insistence that all proper procedures were followed. In the future, the administration should share the information it is permitted to release and forthrightly explain the contours of where that permission ends. We trust the University both to protect information that ought to be protected and to reveal information that ought to be revealed. In its zeal to pursue the former task, the administration must not forget the latter.
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Monday, Naftali Bennett will speak at Princeton. He doesn’t speak for us.
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On Monday, the Center for Jewish Life (CJL) is hosting ex-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for a conversation on his political career. While it is the CJL’s right to host Bennett, we, as Jewish students, disavow and spurn the rhetoric that he has spread across college campuses in the United States, and call on others to join us.
The CJL’s hyperbolic rhetoric has enabled Trump’s cuts
Emanuelle SippyThis weaponization of antisemitism is cut from the same cloth as Steinlauf’s repeated rhetoric against legitimate academic events that are critical of Israel. The CJL’s hyperbolic rhetoric over recent years has thus helped pave the way for the Marschall complaint, and accordingly, the Trump funding freeze.
This weaponization of antisemitism is cut from the same cloth as Steinlauf’s repeated rhetoric against legitimate academic events that are critical of Israel. The CJL’s hyperbolic rhetoric over recent years has thus helped pave the way for the Marschall complaint, and accordingly, the Trump funding freeze.
The library closes, but the work does not
Sid SinghIt’s clear that Princeton needs a 24/7 formal study space. As students push through long nights — especially during midterms and finals — the current options do not meet the demand.
It’s clear that Princeton needs a 24/7 formal study space. As students push through long nights — especially during midterms and finals — the current options do not meet the demand.