A survey found that more than 7 out of 10 Princeton University students consider it "acceptable" to interrupt a speaker so that the speaker cannot deliver their talk. According to Professor Jonathan Turley, the educational institution's attempts to reinforce the principles of free speech were not fully reflected in the survey.
The survey was conducted by Princetonians for Free Speech and College Pulse between March and April 2023. "Three-quarters (76 percent) of students say it is always, sometimes or rarely acceptable to yell at a speaker to stop them from speaking on campus. In comparison, 44% of students say it is acceptable to stop other students from attending a speech on campus in some cases, and 16% say the same of using violence to stop a speech on campus," the authors wrote in the final summary.
In contrast to the above results, students affirmed that freedom of expression is vital to university life. "Nearly 9 out of 10 students say that freedom of expression and academic freedom are important to the mission of the university. A large majority (86%) of Princeton undergraduates surveyed say that free speech and academic freedom are somewhat or very important to the university's mission, while 14% say they are not too important or not important at all," they added.
Responding to another question about discourse and ideologies in college life, 4 out of 10 students believe that some Princeton faculty and administrators indoctrinate their students with personal beliefs. "More than 4 in 10 (41%) students somewhat or strongly agree that some Princeton administrators and faculty go out of their way to indoctrinate students with their personal political beliefs," the survey details.
"Students who identify as Republicans or Independents and lean Republican (n=32) are more than twice as likely as those who identify as Democrats or Independents and lean Democratic to say they agree (78% vs. 29%)," he adds.
