Penna Dexter

On Independence Day this year, some faculty members published a letter to the senior administration at Princeton University. Eventually hundreds signed on. But classics professor Joshua Katz did not. He posted his own “Declaration of Independence” at Quilette.com. The lengthy Faculty Letter opens with this sentence: “Anti-Blackness is foundational to America.” As Professor Katz points out, “the Princeton Letter demands a dizzying array of changes.” Here are some examples:

• “Reward the invisible work done by faculty of color with course relief and summer salary”
• “Faculty of color hired at the junior level should be guaranteed one additional semester of sabbatical”
• “Provide additional human resources for the support of junior faculty of color”

These perks are for faculty Professor Katz describes as “extraordinarily privileged people already…Princeton professors” simply because of their skin color. The Princeton Letter also demands required courses “focused on the history and legacy of racism in the country and on the campus.” It asks that the school encourage anti-racist student activism, beginning with “a formal public University apology to the members of the Black Justice League and their allies.” The Black Justice League was a local terrorist organization that harassed students, including black students, who didn’t agree with its demands. The demand that most disturbs Professor Katz is for a faculty committee to investigate and discipline other faculty if they engage in “racist behaviors, incidents, research, and publication”— what could go wrong? This letter was sent two weeks after the university had, in response to the demands of present and former students, removed the name Woodrow Wilson, the university’s 13^th president, from the School of Public and International Affairs and from one of Princeton’s six residential colleges. This did not placate the ivy league mob. This Faculty Letter also endorsed those earlier demands. They include severing ties with the campus police. Again—what could go wrong? Unlike some signers who could not possibly agree with all of this, Professor Katz is courageous.