Book Talk with Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber: “Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right”

In Terms of Respect, constitutional scholar and Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber argues that colleges and universities are largely getting free speech right. Today’s students engage in vigorous discussions on sensitive topics and embrace both the opportunity to learn and the right to protest. Like past generations, they value free speech, but, like all of us, they sometimes misunderstand what it requires. Ultimately, the polarization and turmoil visible on many campuses reflect an American civic crisis that affects universities along with the rest of society. But colleges, Eisgruber argues, can help to promote civil discussion in this raucous, angry world—and they can show us how to embrace free speech without sacrificing ideals of equality, diversity, and respect.

President Eisgruber will be in conversation with WSHU Public Policy Reporter and Editor, Molly Ingram. A Q+A and book signing will follow the conversation.

Christopher Ludwig Eisgruber has served as Princeton University’s 20^th president since July 2013. He served previously as Princeton’s provost for nine years, beginning in 2004, after joining the Princeton faculty in 2001.

As president, Eisgruber has led efforts to increase the representation of low-income and first-generation students at Princeton and other colleges and universities. Princeton’s socioeconomic diversity initiatives have attracted national attention from the New York Times, the Washington Post, 60 Minutes and other news outlets. Eisgruber has also been a leading voice in Washington and elsewhere for the value of research and liberal arts education. He has also emphasized the importance of both free speech and inclusivity to Princeton’s mission and championed the University’s commitment to service.

President Eisgruber is a recipient of the United States Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the National Institute of Social Sciences Gold Honor Medal.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of American Universities, as co-chair of the American Talent Initiative steering committee, and was a member of the United States Navy’s Education for Seapower Advisory Board from 2023 to 2025.

Eisgruber received his A.B. in physics from Princeton in 1983, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He then earned an M.Litt in politics at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and a J.D. cum laude at the University of Chicago Law School. After clerking for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Patrick Higginbotham and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, he taught at New York University’s School of Law for 11 years.

Eisgruber’s books include Constitutional Self-Government (2001); Religious Freedom and the Constitution (with Lawrence Sager, 2007); The Next Justice: Repairing the Supreme Court Appointments Process (2007); and Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right (2025).