To the Editor:

As a Princeton resident, I was shocked to learn of Princeton University’s non-renewal of the contract of the brilliant and learned Near Eastern scholar Dr. Michael Barry, after 12 years of University teaching and just two years from retirement. Michael Barry is a world-renowned scholar whose lectures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at Princeton are among the most absorbing I have ever attended. Anyone who doubts the richness of his background and the extent of his contributions should read his biography on the Princeton University website or watch one of his lectures available on YouTube. The decision by this immensely wealthy university not to renew the contract of such an illustrious lecturer after so many years is incredibly shabby. To their credit, University students and alumni are protesting the decision, which certainly does not reflect an attitude of age-friendliness at Princeton University.

Francesca Benson

Bainbridge Street