CSFA submitted our report Lifting The Fog - Restring Academic Freedom & Free Expression at Cornell University to the Cornell Administration in August 2023.
The report describes problems surrounding free speech, open inquiry and divisive DEI practices at Cornell. The report outlines Policy Recommendations that the Administration should implement to return free speech and open inquiry to Cornell.
Subsequent campus events demonstrated the negative real-world impact on open inquiry that current Administration policies and practices enable and encourage - and the prescience and wisdom of CFSA's Policy Recommendations. While never responding directly to CFSA, the Administration quietly adopted several of our recommendations, including a rollback of the use of DEI statements in faculty hiring and a declaration that the "President and Provost will refrain from opining on national or global events that do not directly impact the university." President Martha Pollack resigned. Her temporary replacement, Interim President Michael Kotlikoff, plans on resigning after a new president is found. The path is cleared for further reform at Cornell.
More work remains to be done. The status of CFSA's policy recommendations, from publicly available information, is shown in our CFSA Policy Recommendations Implementation Log.
A few months ago, Interim President Kotlikoff quietly admitted in a Cornell Daily Sun interview that Cornell was considering additional reforms contained in our policy recommendations. We await meaningful action on these critically important remaining initiatives.
Public sentiment across the U.S. has clearly and strongly shifted away from restrictions on free speech and controversial DEI initiatives, aligning instead with the reforms CFSA proposed. Given Cornell's urgent need for further reform, we encourage you to contact the administration as soon as possible to express your support for these much-needed recommendations.
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