By Donald Gilpin

Princeton University continues to negotiate the fine line between allowing free speech on the one hand and maintaining an atmosphere of civility and respect for all on the other, as pro-Palestine student organizers continue to press their cause.

About 150 demonstrators gathered at McCosh Courtyard after the first day of classes last week and marched past Clio Hall and on to Nassau Hall, sites associated with last spring’s Princeton Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which held out for almost three weeks, calling for the University to divest and disassociate from companies with ties to Israel. Princeton avoided the kinds of large-scale demonstrations that roiled many other universities last spring and led to thousands of arrests and the departure of a number of college presidents.

A new Princeton University website on “Protests and Free Expression,” which includes clarification and some tightening of regulations on protests and time, place, and manner restrictions, quotes from the University’s Rights, Rules, Responsibilities policy book: “Free speech and peaceable assembly are basic requirements of the university as a center for free inquiry and the search for knowledge and insight. These rights involve a concurrent obligation on the part of all members of the University, guests, and visitors to maintain on the campus an atmosphere conducive to scholarly pursuits and to respect the rights of all individuals.”

Speaking to an orientation session on academic freedom and free expression two weeks ago, Princeton University President Christoper L. Eisgruber told the new students, “It is my job to ensure that people on this campus — including all of you — have the freedom to say what they think. It is also my job to encourage you to engage with, and to learn from, others who think differently from you.”

The revised protest rules prohibit demonstrations on the grounds of Prospect House and on Cannon Green, which was the main location of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. The University had originally also stated that protests would be banned on the front lawn of Nassau Hall, but last week rescinded that ban.

University administrators have stated that the new website makes no significant changes in the University’s rules, and a letter to the campus community from University officials last week stated, “You may be wondering whether Princeton’s policies relating to protests and demonstrations will change in light of last year’s activity. The short answer is: no.”

The Princeton Israeli Apartheid Divest (PIAD) coalition, which led in the organizing of the Encampment, presented a divestment proposal to the Resources Committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) last May and followed up with a written proposal endorsed by 30 student and community groups, according to a PIAD statement.

The Resources Committee continues to deliberate, but the PIAD says it will be taking a “two-pronged approach” to help speed the process. “Given the urgency of ending the genocide, Princeton must reenvision a fatally slow bureaucratic process,” the PIAD statement reads.

PIAD states that it will continue to demand that all charges be dropped against 13 student protestors who were arrested last spring, and the organization will be disseminating a new political education publication.

“The plan, then, is to educate, agitate, and organize for divestment and for a free Palestine with the lessons and determination of the encampment as our guide,” the PIAD statement explains.