Presiding over Princeton University’s 272nd commencement ceremony yesterday on the front lawn of Nassau Hall, University President Christopher L. Eisgruber called on the 1,282 undergraduate and 562 graduate degree recipients to “defend the civil virtues.” He warned them that they were going out into a world “in which civic norms crucial to our shared political life are fraying.”
He added, “Your generation’s ability to address the world’s problems will depend on, among other things, your capacity to nurture and repair those norms.”