An independent organization advocating for free expression, viewpoint diversity, and academic freedom at Cornell University
Read this Overview of the threat to academic freedom now facing Cornell.
Cornell Abandons Its Commitment To "Open Inquiry" -- Requiring Faculty To Make "Political Loyalty Pledges" Instead. See Below...
The Founding of CFSA : Listen To News Podcast Here
CornellFSA Year-End 2022 Capital Campaign
As evidenced by reports from Cornell faculty & students and highlighted in this video overview of Cornell's Current Campus Conditions, Open Inquiry and Academic Freedom are under profound threat at Cornell University. CornellFSA has assembled an army of Cornell Community volunteers who are dedicated to bringing critically important educational reforms to Cornell. We soon plan to commence a 2022 Year-End Fundraising Campaign that will provide the resources needed to implement future CornellFSA programs. A summary of CornellFSA's major accomplishments and ongoing action plans can be reviewed HERE. For the coming year, we are very pleased to report that CornellFSA has received a generous "Matching Gift Pledge" from supporters of our volunteer corps efforts. We hope you will contribute to CornellFSA and help return our beloved university to its founding vision and mission. We will soon be reaching out to supporters to fund the CornellFSA action plan for 2023 and beyond. If you already intend to make a donation (checks only), please let us know by sending an email to [email protected]. Thank you!
New Cornell DEI Loyalty Pledges :
Cornell faculty members are now required to make "Political Loyalty Pledges" which continue to transform a formerly proud "Community of Scholars" into a "Band of Political Activists". The recent Stanford University Academic Freedom Conference confirms that dangerous DEI political mandates have now agressively moved from the Humanities to STEM. The result is to impose an "Ideologically Pure Monoculture" throughout all academic disciplines at Cornell which suppresses Free Expression, prohibits Academic Freedom, and eliminates Viewpoint Diversity by preventing faculty and staff representing a diversity of views from being hired. Pres. Pollack and the Cornell Administration must be brought to realize that imposing "viewpoint suppression" through prejudicial hiring and promotion practices not only violates US legal principles but also perverts the basic education purposes of Cornell. Rather than illuminating educational truths by embracing diversity of thought, Cornell's DEI bureaucrats are making absurdly outrageous and untrue claims about Cornell while imposing DEI political litmus tests in hiring and promotion which have crushed Viewpoint Diversity and delivered 99.5% Political Purity on campus. The facts are now in. Observers from across the political spectrum agree on the results. Current Cornell DEI policies are expunging thought diversity among the faculty and staff -- which, in turn, teaches intolerance and close-mindedness to students. Prospective faculty who do not conform to DEI political philosophy mandates are screened out under the current hiring and promotion process. As a consequence, an environment of Open Inquiry no longer exists at Cornell.
Cornell Policy :
Free Speech or Just "Lip Service"
Cornell Pres. Martha Pollack Pays Lip Service On “Open Inquiry & Free Speech” In Fall 2022 Keynote Address To New Students. However, in 2022, FIRE ranks Cornell’s “Free Speech Climate” 154th out of 203 US universities surveyed. After a full year of efforts by CornellFSA requesting action by the Cornell Administration to strengthen Free Speech & Open Inquiry at the university, Pres. Martha Pollack chose “Free Speech On Campus” as the topic of focus for her very recent Fall22 “Annual Address To New Students”. CornellFSA was initially very pleased with this result – which validates all the efforts which CornellFSA has made over the past year. Pollack's verbal pledge comes after extensive national media coverage CornellFSA has brought to expose the current Monoculture and Thought Orthodoxy at Cornell and elsewhere (i.e. from WSJ, Washington Post, Newsweek, National Review, FOX News, Washington Examiner, and many other media outlets) and through the efforts CornellFSA has made to push for reform of Cornell Policies on certain important free speech matters. Yet, despite Pres Pollack's recent address, FIRE's student survey reports that 88% of Cornell students feel compelled to "self-censor" on-campus and FIRE rankings show that Cornell's free speech environment languishes within the "bottom quartile" of the 203 US universities surveyed. Thus, Pres Pollack's recent address represents little more than sound-bite “lip service” from the Cornell PR department. Worse still, the Summer and Fall of 2022 has seen the Cancellation of Abraham Lincoln and the Shout Down of Ann Coulter take place on campus. The Cornell Community must now hold the university accountable to the Pollack pledges by continuing to support the Cornell student / faculty push for Cornell's adoption of the "Chicago Principles" as its Free Speech Policy (see Cornell Daily Sun article below). Congratulations to all CornellFSAers who have contributed to pushing Cornell University to finally declare "Free Speech" a university goal ! It is a beginning for CornellFSA's work to transform Martha Pollack's PR statements from "lip service" into "reality".
Sample Press Coverage :
- WSJ Report On Cornell Monoculture – Dec21
- Cornell Motto “Rewritten” Aug22”
- Cornell Professor : Universities Eliminate Meaning Of Objective Truth
Pres Pollack’s “Newfound Focus” On Free Speech :
Cornell President’s Keynote Address – Sep22
Cornell Should Adopt the Chicago Principles
by Sara Stober / Cornell '22
Liberal Caucus of the Cornell Political Union
August 30, 2021
A little over seven years ago, the University of Chicago issued a report defending free speech on campus. Since then, over eighty institutions or faculty bodies have adopted the report and committed themselves to promote free expression. We write this letter to encourage Cornell to do the same.
REPORT : CornellFSA Now Has 6000+ Supporters & Followers And Is Growing Rapidly. Thank You! .....................................................................................................--- FIRST : Abe Lincoln Cancelled At Cornell
THEN : Cornell Alum Ann Coulter Cancelled : November 9, 2022
(see "Ann Cancelled" and "Words Are Violence")
In Aug 2022, Cornell Pres. Martha Pollack loudly declared that Free Speech is a priority at Cornell. But as cited by the American Council of Trustees & Alumni, Pres. Pollack seems unwilling to live up to her own words and priorities. The Cornell Review reports that, regarding disciplining the disruptive students who shut down the Nov22 Coulter speech, Pollack "does not have a good answer.” Instead, she has offered only lip service by whimsically saying that protection of free speech is "something we need to discuss". But Pollack has for months stonewalled a formal request made by CornellFSA, FIRE & ACTA for the university to institute free speech training for incoming students. Pollack's refusal to act helped cause the Coulter debacle.
As a politically non-partisan organization, CornellFSA supports views from across the political spectrum being freely heard and fully examined at Cornell. However, Pres. Pollack has refused to take the simple actions recommended by CornellFSA, ACTA, & FIRE to allow such Open Inquiry to occur. Policies aimed at preventing Cancel Culture have already been implemented at myriad universities including NYU, Purdue, Princeton, Univ. of Chicago, and scores of others. Over 100 US universities have adopted the Chicago Principles as their free speech policy. BUT NOT CORNELL. Why not? What is Pres. Pollack waiting for? Perhaps a continuing stream of national embarrassments for Cornell? Seems words are cheap in Ithaca. Will Cornellians hold her accountable? Cornell needs a LEADERSHIP that will deal with its serious Cancel Culture problem. With only hollow words, Ms Pollack has shown no willingness to lead on this critical issue which continues to seriously damage Cornell, its traditions, and its reputation. STOP STUMBLING, BUMBLING, & STONEWALLING, PRES POLLACK. PLEASE TAKE THE NECESSARY ACTION ! WHAT ARE YOU WAITNG FOR?
Abe Finally Reinstated In Oct22
Lincoln Bust Being Reinstated At Uris Library. (Fall Semester 2022) In the summer of 2022, Cornell faculty and alumni discovered “The Cancellation Of Abe Lincoln” -- i.e. the removal of the marble Lincoln bust (1865) and accompanying presentation of the Gettysburg Address text (Cornell owns an original address in Lincoln’s own hand) from Cornell's rare manuscripts Kroch Library section of Olin Library after a reported complaint which apparently identified Abraham Lincoln as a symbol of American racism. Sadly, Cornell University readily capitulated to this cynical and distorted view of American history and its greatest President. Witnessing this appalling failure of President Martha Pollack and Cornell's top leadership to defend the university's time-honored reputation and values, CornellFSA supporters took timely action and brought pressure on President Pollack and her Administration via faculty & alumni mobilization and through heavy news media coverage. In response, the Cornell Administration offered an untruthful cover-up to the press suggesting the Lincoln display was removed due to a normal exhibit rotation. But with the commitment of CornellFSA supporters, the university's Cancel Culture actions were made known, as was the false and intentionally misleading “official cover-up" narrative created by Cornell University Relations designed to hide the cause of the Lincoln exhibit removal. These official Cornell statements have now been repudiated via press and faculty investigations. THE RESULT : On 9/29/22, it was announced by the university that “Old Abe” will be reinstated in a new and more prominent display at Uris Library. CONGRATS to the Cornellians who made this happen ! The media and CornellFSA illuminated the facts related to this embarrassing episode for Cornell -- and the weakness demonstrated by Cornell's leadership. See the below “before” and “after” news articles on the Lincoln bust cancellation. This reporting resulted in Cornell’s reversal and reinstatement of Abe Lincoln :
News Before:
News After:
Become A CornellFSA Subscriber
If you are a member of the Cornell Community who wishes to preserve freedom of speech and open academic and intellectual inquiry at Cornell University, we urge you to subscribe to the CFSA Quarterly Update today by clicking on the below link. This no-cost CFSA subscription will keep you informed of ongoing matters at Cornell relating to free speech, viewpoint diversity, and academic freedom on campus. As requested, CFSA maintains strict confidentiality regarding subscriber names and contact information. Please subscribe today !
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