If nothing else comes out of this injustice, please consider changing your definition of both "smart" and "worthy".
People who attend and work for Ivy League schools have made it very clear in the past decade that they are neither.
I've met people who've graduated from Ivy League schools and been shocked by how vapid they are.
If you want to meet smart, free thinking, bright eyed kids with original ideas, hang out with working class people. They have nothing to lose by speaking their minds among (actual) friends, and they can't afford to deny material reality by embracing Identity Politics.
A lot of this craziness is happening because people have such a grossly distorted concept of "worthiness" and intelligence.
Ask yourself how you got here, and if those distortions had anything to do with it.
There has to be a lawsuit here. The only way this shit stops, is a staggering award by a judge or jury against Princeton for lacking due process in the way he (or Sabatini at MIT) was treated.
I am a VP of Operations for a federal contractor that does consulting and IT work. I hire a lot of people every year.
Being perfectly honest, I now discount anyone coming from the Ivy league and here is why.
The SINGLE most important characteristic when I hire is character. If someone is not a good person, a good team player, has a level of personal and intellectual humility, then no matter how smart or how educated they are, ultimately they are more trouble than they are worth. If they lack real empathy with people unlike them, then they will make horrible managers and will fail at working with clients.
Increasingly I find that the best people are coming from what are normally thought of as second or even third tier schools or have taken unconventional paths such as taking 6 yrs to graduate while working through school to pay for it.
I was on the corporate board tasked with identifying a new general counsel about 6 months ago. We had applicants from various places, many of whom had come from the top tier law schools like Yale and Georgetown. Ultimately, we picked a youngish woman who graduated from the University of Nebraska and went to law school in Florida. She has proved to be amazing at her job and is really enjoyed as a person by her peers.
It is time to admit that our "elite" schools are no longer so elite and that they are producing weak people with poor character. Oh...they may have plenty of power under the mental hood, but they are useless to an organization. Of course, that is a generalization. I am sure that there are quite a few good kids coming out of those places, but an elite degree no longer carries the cache it once did.
Paraphrasing Thomas Paine, we are again in "times that try men's souls."We also are in times that demonstrate who has character and who does not, and who are your friends and who are not. I imagine many who read the various articles provided by Bari have learned and relearned the foregoing lessons on a personal level the past two years . The current faculty and many students at Princeton have made clear that they may be filled with book knowledge but they possess empty hearts and souls. It is time for Princeton alumni who are the best and brightest and courageous to stand up and let their voices be heard in public shouts and not private whispers.
The University of Austin is getting started. They need Joshua Katz. Please contact them. You may already know some of the founders.
There are many of us out here in flyover country who love learning but would never have had the opportunity to go to Princeton. Why not set up a class, or a Substack, and let us take out subscriptions?
There is another point to consider. People as brilliant and capable as Joshua Katz and Ms. Gold must step up and speak out. We with no voice, position, or deep pockets need you to be our voice. Take a page from Jordan Peterson. There is a new world out there that needs you. We need you. Don't allow this ignorant, murderous mob to destroy our Western Civilization.
For what it’s worth, this is the same way many feel about their alma maters.* and it’s ironically complicated by the fact that Princeton hosted Dorian Abbott when my alma mater cancelled his invitation to give last year’s Carlson Lecture because he opposed the psychosis that is DEI. One day someone will probably unearth that last sentence and burn me at the stake for it.
But I say mazel tov, Solveig. Living well is the best revenge. And being with those whom you love and by whom you are loved is about as good as it gets.
* I probably wrote the plural incorrectly: only one year of Latin in what used to be called jr. high.
Thank you for sharing this story! I’m a college professor and the witch hunts/burnings currently taking place over consensual relationships between faculty, grad, and undergraduate students are ridiculous. I know that many of the ivies have banned relationships between faculty and students for decades, but my university only implemented the policy a few years ago. My university go so far as to ban relationships between ALL undergraduate students and faculty, regardless of whether the individuals involved have an academic relationship; a math professor who starts dating an English major must report this to their department head to comply with the policy. I was involved in conversations with administrators when this policy was being debated and vehemently opposed any restrictions on relationships that did not occur within the context of direct instruction between a faculty member and a student. And I can scream about how this infantilizes women (because we always assume it’s young women dating these older male professors, which is completely sexist, and heterosexist), but a bigger concern that I had with this policy was that it would be used to punish people who are unpopular or controversial, whereas everyone else who breaks this rule but is well liked, brings the University lots of grant money, and/or is a renowned scholar will never be held to the same standard as someone who gets punished for violating a policy like a consensual relationship ban between faculty and students. I thought it would get used to punish the unpopular, but now I see it as a tool of extreme sanction for holding controversial views, and another way for students to destroy faculty they don’t like for any old reason. It’s also another way to weaken the institution of tenure. I think we are burying the lead when we ignore how many tenured faculty are being fired for trivial infractions or baseless claims.
The Elitist Universities are now where “ Sheep “ are made and freedom and critical thinking are doomed by the Mob. Hang in there Ms Gold and Mr. Katz. You are on the right side of history.
I am a Princeton graduate (1968) and I am shocked and dismayed by the persecution inflicted on Professor Katz. I thought that President Eisgruber was above those stalinst tactics. I will wthhold further contibutions until Katz is reinstated with sincere aplogies.
This is a heartbreaking story. Your husband sounds like a great friend and a decent man. His former friend who he helped to achieve his documented status should be ashamed of himself. What he did is dishonorable and quite frankly perhaps he should be disciplined for his former transgression. I’d never advise anyone to go to the Ivy League. My prayers are with you guys.
It boggles the mind to think that there are so many miserable people who.don't have the brains or integrity to make any decent contribution to human kind, but instead can only advance their esteem by denigrating others. I think it was Audrey Hepburn who said the "best way to judge a person is by what they say about others". One of the many things she got right, and that you have also gotten right, Solveig. You are both too good for such a place.
Why would anyone wish to get their “education” in a place like that?
I always wanted an education. Without the opportunity for a variety of reasons, I managed to go the route to become registered nurse and enjoyed my career immensely. I also, along the way, educated myself in subjects of interest. Today, after hearing the horror stories of what life is like on campuses all over the country, and especially the precious ivy league ones, I am so glad to know I missed out on nothing.
Thank you for this, Solveig. I wish you and your husband a wonderful life.
As I posted on the story about the school shooting, it is time we turn back to God. I’m a Christian, but one who has been too shy to speak about it. Now I will start being bold. Find God. Hear the messages of love, peace, faith, truth and beauty.
So if you buy the assertion that "the great replacement" is merely "an evil conspiracy," take the case of Joshua Katz and Dan-el Padilla Peralta. Katz, according to Gold's account, helped Peralta get documented. Peralta then helps Katz get REPLACED. I was privy to a Classics convention posted on youtube a few years ago, where this Peralta jerk holds court. It wasn't a classics conference. It was an "anti-racist" struggle session. The asshat presented his goal to tear down the Classics. Some other speaker of color appeared to spend his time seeking to prove his bias that not enough black classics academics are getting published in journals -- rather than writing the academic work that would get his black self published in said journals. I dare say the racist intolerance of some POC academics are indeed tearing down the very institutions that support them -- and replacing the authentic academics like Katz in the process. At the university where I teach, we now have a black president who graduated from Princeton. This person's lack of education, ironically, is painfully evident in the misguided, politically motivated foaming at the mouth emails they blast across the university. Case in point: the Rittenhouse trial. How anyone could label Rittenhouse a "racist white supremacist" is beyond me. Couldn't possibly have known ANYTHING of substance about the trial, yet sends out this email. Now we have "black graduation" and "Faculty of Color" meetings where THEY get to discuss whether THEY are treated with the prescribed amount of respect. Meanwhile, any one of these people can deliberately misinterpret something a white professor says and it's the end of their career. This is how white men are getting REPLACED. And the white people buying and promoting it are a disgrace.
Disgraceful behaviour by the university obviously. Surprising it is not. Might I suggest to Solveig however that she hold back on the teenage ‘love gush’ about her (what appears to be) idolisation of her husband. It adds nothing to the sense of injustice and unfairness. It comes across as My perfect privileged bubble life is no more. Thats just SO unfair. Less broadcasting more broadside please.
If nothing else comes out of this injustice, please consider changing your definition of both "smart" and "worthy".
People who attend and work for Ivy League schools have made it very clear in the past decade that they are neither.
I've met people who've graduated from Ivy League schools and been shocked by how vapid they are.
If you want to meet smart, free thinking, bright eyed kids with original ideas, hang out with working class people. They have nothing to lose by speaking their minds among (actual) friends, and they can't afford to deny material reality by embracing Identity Politics.
A lot of this craziness is happening because people have such a grossly distorted concept of "worthiness" and intelligence.
Ask yourself how you got here, and if those distortions had anything to do with it.
You can learn from this, too.
There has to be a lawsuit here. The only way this shit stops, is a staggering award by a judge or jury against Princeton for lacking due process in the way he (or Sabatini at MIT) was treated.
I am a VP of Operations for a federal contractor that does consulting and IT work. I hire a lot of people every year.
Being perfectly honest, I now discount anyone coming from the Ivy league and here is why.
The SINGLE most important characteristic when I hire is character. If someone is not a good person, a good team player, has a level of personal and intellectual humility, then no matter how smart or how educated they are, ultimately they are more trouble than they are worth. If they lack real empathy with people unlike them, then they will make horrible managers and will fail at working with clients.
Increasingly I find that the best people are coming from what are normally thought of as second or even third tier schools or have taken unconventional paths such as taking 6 yrs to graduate while working through school to pay for it.
I was on the corporate board tasked with identifying a new general counsel about 6 months ago. We had applicants from various places, many of whom had come from the top tier law schools like Yale and Georgetown. Ultimately, we picked a youngish woman who graduated from the University of Nebraska and went to law school in Florida. She has proved to be amazing at her job and is really enjoyed as a person by her peers.
It is time to admit that our "elite" schools are no longer so elite and that they are producing weak people with poor character. Oh...they may have plenty of power under the mental hood, but they are useless to an organization. Of course, that is a generalization. I am sure that there are quite a few good kids coming out of those places, but an elite degree no longer carries the cache it once did.
Money talks . There should be a coordinated effort by alums to not give a penny for 5 years . Do it every university in the country .
Paraphrasing Thomas Paine, we are again in "times that try men's souls."We also are in times that demonstrate who has character and who does not, and who are your friends and who are not. I imagine many who read the various articles provided by Bari have learned and relearned the foregoing lessons on a personal level the past two years . The current faculty and many students at Princeton have made clear that they may be filled with book knowledge but they possess empty hearts and souls. It is time for Princeton alumni who are the best and brightest and courageous to stand up and let their voices be heard in public shouts and not private whispers.
The University of Austin is getting started. They need Joshua Katz. Please contact them. You may already know some of the founders.
There are many of us out here in flyover country who love learning but would never have had the opportunity to go to Princeton. Why not set up a class, or a Substack, and let us take out subscriptions?
There is another point to consider. People as brilliant and capable as Joshua Katz and Ms. Gold must step up and speak out. We with no voice, position, or deep pockets need you to be our voice. Take a page from Jordan Peterson. There is a new world out there that needs you. We need you. Don't allow this ignorant, murderous mob to destroy our Western Civilization.
For what it’s worth, this is the same way many feel about their alma maters.* and it’s ironically complicated by the fact that Princeton hosted Dorian Abbott when my alma mater cancelled his invitation to give last year’s Carlson Lecture because he opposed the psychosis that is DEI. One day someone will probably unearth that last sentence and burn me at the stake for it.
But I say mazel tov, Solveig. Living well is the best revenge. And being with those whom you love and by whom you are loved is about as good as it gets.
* I probably wrote the plural incorrectly: only one year of Latin in what used to be called jr. high.
Thank you for sharing this story! I’m a college professor and the witch hunts/burnings currently taking place over consensual relationships between faculty, grad, and undergraduate students are ridiculous. I know that many of the ivies have banned relationships between faculty and students for decades, but my university only implemented the policy a few years ago. My university go so far as to ban relationships between ALL undergraduate students and faculty, regardless of whether the individuals involved have an academic relationship; a math professor who starts dating an English major must report this to their department head to comply with the policy. I was involved in conversations with administrators when this policy was being debated and vehemently opposed any restrictions on relationships that did not occur within the context of direct instruction between a faculty member and a student. And I can scream about how this infantilizes women (because we always assume it’s young women dating these older male professors, which is completely sexist, and heterosexist), but a bigger concern that I had with this policy was that it would be used to punish people who are unpopular or controversial, whereas everyone else who breaks this rule but is well liked, brings the University lots of grant money, and/or is a renowned scholar will never be held to the same standard as someone who gets punished for violating a policy like a consensual relationship ban between faculty and students. I thought it would get used to punish the unpopular, but now I see it as a tool of extreme sanction for holding controversial views, and another way for students to destroy faculty they don’t like for any old reason. It’s also another way to weaken the institution of tenure. I think we are burying the lead when we ignore how many tenured faculty are being fired for trivial infractions or baseless claims.
The Elitist Universities are now where “ Sheep “ are made and freedom and critical thinking are doomed by the Mob. Hang in there Ms Gold and Mr. Katz. You are on the right side of history.
I am a Princeton graduate (1968) and I am shocked and dismayed by the persecution inflicted on Professor Katz. I thought that President Eisgruber was above those stalinst tactics. I will wthhold further contibutions until Katz is reinstated with sincere aplogies.
This is a heartbreaking story. Your husband sounds like a great friend and a decent man. His former friend who he helped to achieve his documented status should be ashamed of himself. What he did is dishonorable and quite frankly perhaps he should be disciplined for his former transgression. I’d never advise anyone to go to the Ivy League. My prayers are with you guys.
It boggles the mind to think that there are so many miserable people who.don't have the brains or integrity to make any decent contribution to human kind, but instead can only advance their esteem by denigrating others. I think it was Audrey Hepburn who said the "best way to judge a person is by what they say about others". One of the many things she got right, and that you have also gotten right, Solveig. You are both too good for such a place.
Why would anyone wish to get their “education” in a place like that?
I always wanted an education. Without the opportunity for a variety of reasons, I managed to go the route to become registered nurse and enjoyed my career immensely. I also, along the way, educated myself in subjects of interest. Today, after hearing the horror stories of what life is like on campuses all over the country, and especially the precious ivy league ones, I am so glad to know I missed out on nothing.
Thank you for this, Solveig. I wish you and your husband a wonderful life.
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”.
Words we used to learn before society killed God.
As I posted on the story about the school shooting, it is time we turn back to God. I’m a Christian, but one who has been too shy to speak about it. Now I will start being bold. Find God. Hear the messages of love, peace, faith, truth and beauty.
So if you buy the assertion that "the great replacement" is merely "an evil conspiracy," take the case of Joshua Katz and Dan-el Padilla Peralta. Katz, according to Gold's account, helped Peralta get documented. Peralta then helps Katz get REPLACED. I was privy to a Classics convention posted on youtube a few years ago, where this Peralta jerk holds court. It wasn't a classics conference. It was an "anti-racist" struggle session. The asshat presented his goal to tear down the Classics. Some other speaker of color appeared to spend his time seeking to prove his bias that not enough black classics academics are getting published in journals -- rather than writing the academic work that would get his black self published in said journals. I dare say the racist intolerance of some POC academics are indeed tearing down the very institutions that support them -- and replacing the authentic academics like Katz in the process. At the university where I teach, we now have a black president who graduated from Princeton. This person's lack of education, ironically, is painfully evident in the misguided, politically motivated foaming at the mouth emails they blast across the university. Case in point: the Rittenhouse trial. How anyone could label Rittenhouse a "racist white supremacist" is beyond me. Couldn't possibly have known ANYTHING of substance about the trial, yet sends out this email. Now we have "black graduation" and "Faculty of Color" meetings where THEY get to discuss whether THEY are treated with the prescribed amount of respect. Meanwhile, any one of these people can deliberately misinterpret something a white professor says and it's the end of their career. This is how white men are getting REPLACED. And the white people buying and promoting it are a disgrace.
Disgraceful behaviour by the university obviously. Surprising it is not. Might I suggest to Solveig however that she hold back on the teenage ‘love gush’ about her (what appears to be) idolisation of her husband. It adds nothing to the sense of injustice and unfairness. It comes across as My perfect privileged bubble life is no more. Thats just SO unfair. Less broadcasting more broadside please.