Our reputation

Patton’s letter is problematic because almost every major news outlet has a preponderance of Ivy League grads on payroll and even the most inane events at Ivy League schools receive a disproportionate amount of press. (At times, it seemed Patton was being attacked more than the segregated proms in Wilcox County, Georgia). As the media is quick to pick up on the juicy details that add to the narrative of Princeton as backward and bigoted, the University is in constant tension between attempting to hide some of the less favorable opinions expressed by its related actors (such as alumni and student organizations) and respecting their freedom of speech. The Patton letter is just one example of many.

It is no secret that Princeton has a rather embarrassing track record on race and gender equality. Much of Princeton’s recent administrative vision, however, has been focused on setting precedent — on being on the right side of history, particularly with respect to LGBT and socioeconomic diversity. Unsurprisingly, this rather concerted push conflicts with Princeton’s more traditional elements, particularly in its support of student groups of all different beliefs and motives.

The disconnect between the administration’s vision for Princeton and the actual campus dialogue rose to the surface at the Every Voice Conference for LGBT Alumni this past weekend. The first conference of its kind at Princeton, it certainly had celebrating a group of alumni likely unacknowledged by Princeton’s less than tolerant history in mind. The underlying tension rose to the surface when a participant asked a panel if the relative success of groups like the Anscombe Society at Princeton hamper the administration’s efforts to maintain a safe environment for LGBT students. I was pleased to hear the current and first openly gay Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Anthony Romero ’87, answer that freedom of speech is as much a right as LGBT equality and that college is a place for the exchange and confrontation of different ideas. He said he himself liked to take pictures with anti-gay protestors, introduce himself as gay and working for the ACLU and tell them he fought for them to have the right to hold “F*** BURN IN HELL” signs. A proud alum, he claimed that Princeton was one of the few elite universities in the country to allow groups to form freely on campus irrespective of conflict with explicit University ambitions, especially in contrast with Harvard. According to The Daily Princetonian, a consortium at Princeton last year found that conservative students feel intellectually safe, even if the Princeton administration has a more liberal outlook and faculty composition. If we find our “conservative Ivy” reputation sometimes uncomfortable, strength in intellectual diversity could be a more appealing point of pride.

However, the more Romero talked about Princeton, the less I was convinced. He spoke in hypotheticals about students debating over meals in Mathey dining hall, where they would sharpen their intellects and opinions with their diverse classmates. It all sounded a little fantastical; I’ve found that Princetonians, a remarkably apolitical and non-confrontational bunch, avoid contentious discussions like these and show extreme discomfort whenever their opinions are challenged. It is a bit of a surreal experience to have attended a school famed for the Anscombe Society without ever having knowingly met a member. Romero seems a little too optimistic about how freedom of speech works at Princeton. It seemed more like an area for improvement.

Even so, asserting free speech can come at the expense of our reputation — at least, the reputation the administration would like to foster. With the first Preview weekend fresh in our minds, our appearance to the outside world comes into sharper focus. Will prefrosh pick the university associated with Patton? Would LGBT prefrosh ever pick Princeton — with its “conservative” reputation in mind — over another equally reputable school? Our simplistic reputation is frustratingly important in our recruitment.

For the most part, I think the University has been skillful and stands apart from the rest in how it navigates this kind of tricky territory. Patton has had her time to shine, but Tilghman did not hesitate to retort that Princeton is “not a marriage bureau.” Groups espousing “traditional” forms of relationships are given their fair space, but Princeton has become, according to the site Campus Pride, one of the institutionally strongest universities in the nation for LGBT rights. A more concerted effort toward maintaining a healthy internal dialogue, while projecting a more cohesive and favorable outward image, is hard work but important. Princeton should cherish its reputation for intellectual freedom while working continuously to minimize the overhang of our questionable past.

William Beacom is a sophomore from Calgary, Canada. He can be reached at wbeacom@princeton.edu.