A TEST OF TIME

Abstract

cemented. Yet, the boundaries of what's permissible and impermissible may also fluctuate and develop as a result of these catalysts of change. While there is nothing inherently wrong with progress, unchecked evolution may become domineering and furthermore oppressive. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate Princeton's progress and, furthermore, the institution's current actions. Essentially, it is to evaluate the fairness, wisdom, and overall accurate judgment of their response against the Palestinian protesters. However, this evaluation will not be done by a student, post-doc researcher, or member of the faculty. Rather, the actions of the past will be called to judge the performance of the present. Using Princeton's past interactions with student-led protests, this paper will examine similarities, consistencies, and, importantly, discrepancies between various eras of protests and the most recent War on Gaza protests. As such, this endeavor will be done through the analysis of four specific eras of Princeotnian protests: The Vietnam era, The South African Apartheid era, The Black Lives Matter era, and finally, the War on Gaza era. In each of the eras, there will be three main connecting variables of comparison. Firstly, the demands of the activists. What was the central issue or problem that the group was protesting against? How do the demands of the group illustrate their values and, furthermore, their relationship with the public and Princeton? The next variable of analysis is the form of expression, i.e., Protests, sit-ins, etc. How did the specific student group express their ideas? Were they confrontational and disruptive? Lastly, the final mode of analysis is the university's response. In other words, how did the university interact with the actions of the student group? Did they meet them with hostility or restraint? Were they deaf or receptive to the demands of the student group? Nevertheless, why are these the three main variables of analysis? These variables are important in understanding Princeton's management of the War on Gaza protests. For instance, if throughout the four cases we find a stark similarity of demands and forms of protests; however, the Institutional responses on the War on Gaza was inherently harsher than other cases , this would provide evidence of inconsistencies of management, hypocrisy, and most importantly discrimination. In other words, let us presume the protestors in the BLM or Apartheid era performed eerily similar protests as their War on Gaza counterparts did and, furthermore, had inherently similar demands. Yet, the Princeton administration treated the War on Gaza protesters in a more brash and harsher way. While this is not on-the-dot evidence for straightforward crimes, it would still pose a problematic situation for Princeton. If an analysis such as this were to happen, a deeper understanding of why Princeton veered away from its methodology of the past would need to be performed. Questions revolving around the notion of what made Palestinian protesters different from Vietnam, Apartheid, and Black Lives Matter protesters if their demands and forms of protesting were similar. Nonetheless, in order to get to that train of thought, the following analysis has to be made. In the next four chapters, each respective era will be analyzed based on this methodology.