Prof cancels free speech course after using slur
TRENTON, N.J.• A Princeton University professor cancelled a course he teaches on cultural freedoms and hate speech after his use of a racial slur during a class discussion led some students to walk out.
Colleagues say Professor Emeritus Lawrence Rosen has often used the slur during lectures on free speech. They say this is the first time he’s received such a negative response from students.
A small group of students walked out of Rosen’s anthropology class on Feb. 6 after he used the N-word three times, according to DailyPrincetonian.com, the university’s student newspaper which first reported Rosen’s comments. Rosen asked the class “Which is more provocative: A white man walks up to a black man and punches him in the nose, or a white man walks up to a black man and calls him a (nword)?”
Rosen refused a demand from several students to apologize and argued with at least one student. Two students later filed a complaint with school officials.
The university later issued a statement defending Rosen. The professor and the students did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.
“The values of free speech and inclusivity are central to Princeton University’s mission and critical to the education we provide to our students,” the statement said. “The conversations and disagreements that took place in the seminar led by Professor Rosen (last week) are part of the vigorous engagement and robust debate that are central to what we do.”
The school said it will continue “to look for ways to encourage discussions about free speech and inclusivity with the students in Professor Rosen’s class and the campus community more broadly.”
Speaking Monday night at a town-hall meeting with students, university president Christopher Eisgruber said he respected Rosen’s decision to use the word, citing the importance of having conversations where people feel “uncomfortable.”
“I think it’s very important for our culture to have academic freedom that allows people to have pedagogical choices on how to teach difficult subjects,” Eisgruber said on the video posted on Facebook by The Tab. “I respect Professor Rosen’s decision about how to teach the subject in the way that he did by being explicit and using very difficult words.”