Princeton Now Wants to Ban 'Freshmen' from Campus

Not the students, but the word — the Ivy League university marches toward political correctness

Although Princeton University administrators want to ban the use of the word “man” and “woman” in university communications, students are fighting back. The Daily Princetonian, the student newspaper, published an editorial opposing the new policy on gender-neutral terminology.

According to the Daily Princetonian editors: “Censoring the English language through dissemination of lists of acceptable vocabulary is contrary to the values of the University and a sinister first step towards Orwellian restriction of language and speech.”

Princeton’s new policy, issued by the Office of Human Resources in September, verged on the absurd. An employee is not allowed to be described as “manning” the front desk. Employees, plural to avoid the use of “he” or “she,” must “staff” the front desk. No longer could new students be called “freshmen”; they had to be called “first-year students” to avoid the potentially damaging word “men.” “Fireman” became “firefighter.”

Words with female meanings were also banned. “Policewoman” became “police officer,” and “chairwoman” became “chairperson.”

This was ostensibly done to “reflect the inclusive culture and policies at Princeton University,” according to human resources, and to prevent damage to women who might think that “freshmen” did not include them.

The university does not seem to care that the recommended words “chairperson” and “spokesperson” contain the word “son,” which has male connotations.

It’s noteworthy that when students got back to campus, many opposed the new regime. As Heterodox Academy founder Jonathan Haidt has documented, between 1995 and 2010 U.S. universities became more left-leaning. Current university administrators and professors came of age during the campus demonstrations of the 1960s, and are determined to twist the universities of the 21st century to match their outdated vision.

One exception at Princeton is constitutional law professor Robert George, who has never given in to the winds of political correctness. On Sept. 28 he will receive the Irving Kristol Award from the American Enterprise Institute for his scholarly rigor on questions of jurisprudence, the Constitution, natural law, and the intersection of religion, morality and culture.

The Daily Princetonian’s editorial board was not unanimous. Three students dissented, writing that “gender-exclusive language underpins implicit but pervasive gender biases and norms” and “gender-exclusive language has the real effect of excluding and silencing women.”

No matter that upon graduation, students will be in a world where they hear “freshman” and “policeman” on a daily basis. One purpose of school is to prepare students for real life. Cocooning them from reality isn’t doing them any favors.

This is not the first time that Tigers have stood up for common sense. In November 2015, in response to a sit-in of the university president’s office by 200 members of the Black Justice League, 1,300 people affiliated with Princeton signed a petition to ensure that Princeton “maintains its commitment to free speech and open dialogue and condemns political correctness to the extent that it infringes upon those fundamental academic values.”

Students formed the Princeton Open Campus Coalition, which met with Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber and asked him to preserve the freedom of speech and civil debate that are the hallmarks of a classical education.

The Black Justice League’s demands included a dorm for those who want to celebrate black affinity; mandatory diversity training; and a requirement that students take a course on a minority culture. They also wanted the renaming of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Wilson College and the removal of a mural of President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson, who graduated from Princeton in 1879 and served as the university’s president from 1902 until 1910, formally segregated the federal workforce.

Eisgruber agreed to set aside four rooms on campus for the use of students of different cultures. However, the university did not add diversity requirements, and the Woodrow Wilson School and Wilson College have kept their names.

Princeton administrators’ efforts to make speech gender-neutral are an effort to protect some students from language that they might find not crude but simply offensive. This limits speech because, if something is potentially offensive, then, according to the new campus fads, it should not be said.

Students come to universities in search of an education, and restricting speech limits their education. It is a characteristic of authoritarian regimes such as those in China and North Korea that freedom of speech is not allowed.

It is too easy to accuse students of wanting to be coddled and protected from “micro-aggressions” through “trigger warnings.” Many students think this is hokum — and are willing to say so in print. Let’s hope the administrators will follow the students’ lead.

This piece originally appeared on WSJ's MarketWatch

______________________

Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow and director of Economics21 at the Manhattan Institute. Follow her on Twitter here.

This piece originally appeared in WSJ's MarketWatch