Princeton launches ‘Stand Up’ website, alumni newsletter in response to federal attacks

In the wake of attacks on universities from the Trump administration, Princeton has launched a campaign called ”Stand Up” to promote its mission and research, and broadly make the case for American higher education.

Jennifer Caputo, Deputy Vice President for Alumni Engagement announced the initiative, which includes a website and a newsletter, in an email to alumni on April 30. “Stand Up” marks yet another public relations step by the University in response to federal funding cuts and pressure from the government and follows several interviews by University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 to national news outlets indicating that Princeton would not capitulate to demands regarding academic freedom. The Trump administration has not yet issued any specific demands to the University.

The “Stand Up” website includes many familiar Princeton talking points, including information on the University’s commitment towards academic freedom and free speech, the importance of federal research funding, benefits gained from the University’s endowment, and the University’s “groundbreaking” financial aid program. Many of them are links to previous press releases or interviews or letters from Eisgruber.

“Free speech and academic freedom are the lifeblood of any great university and any healthy democracy,” Eisgruber wrote in his 2024 State of the University letter, from which the “Stand Up” website quoted. “Princeton’s mission of teaching, research, and service depends upon giving the members of our community broad freedom to propound controversial ideas about science, humanity, justice, ethics, and every other subject, and to express those ideas forcefully and provocatively.”

The inaugural newsletter, sent on May 1, also asks recipients to donate to Annual Giving, specifically noting that it may need to draw on “Annual Giving and other sources” with grants under threat. The newsletter also asks for recipients to call their representatives to “ask for continued federal support for scientific research, student financial aid and academic freedom.”

The “Stand Up” website broadly calls for Princetonians to “Tell the story of how Princeton mattered in your life, about the excellence that you see, and about the shared and distinctive mission of colleges and universities in our republic,” again quoting Eisgruber’s 2024 State of the University letter.

The campaign — which seeks to highlight American universities broadly, not just Princeton — comes as other colleges are beginning to show opposition to Trump. Last week, Eisgruber was among the signatories of a letter as part of the American Association of Colleges and Universities alongside hundreds of other college presidents, seeking to “oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses.”

Devon Rudolph is an associate News editor and staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’ She is from northern Virginia and typically covers student life and USG.