Led by CFSA member and committed Cornell Trustee and Donor Jon A. Lindseth, many Cornell donors, alumni, and faculty have called for the termination of the Pollack-Kotlikoff Administration. This call for a leadership change has now been heeded.
However, with the end of the Pollack Administration, the Board of Trustees has announced that Provost Michael Kotlikoff will remain, assuming the role of Cornell President for a 2-year interim term scheduled to commence on July 1, 2024. The Board of Trustees has indicated that, during Kotlikoff’s interim service as President, a search will be initiated to find a longer-term Cornell President.
The roles of President and Provost are, by far, the most important leadership positions within the Cornell Administration. It must be recognized that, as Provost, Kotlikoff has been the creator and implementor of a variety of very harmful DEI-driven policies which have led Cornell far off-track in the pursuit of destructive DEI policies and unwise political agendas.
As reported to the US Congress by a Cornell student, the eruption of runaway antisemitism on campus is just one of the many disastrous outcomes of leadership failures related to DEI policies. Leading US thought leaders from across the political spectrum have exposed this DEI dysfunction – recognizing that, under Pollack-Kotlikoff leadership, the current Cornell Administration has been “pushing political agendas” rather than pursuing educational excellence and academic rigor.
Aligned closely with President Pollack, Provost Kotlikoff has embraced such misdirected political agendas. The Provost has implemented DEI screening policies which unlawfully discriminate against qualified candidates for STEM faculty positions while advancing the hiring of less capable applicants. As Cornell Case Studies show, the Provost’s office has also created and overseen hiring practices whose aim is to discriminate based on race and gender while violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Cornell University desperately needs a new President who will root out and revoke university policies which now undermine Cornell’s educational mission and violate US and NY State employment laws. Cornell must have leadership that will plot a new course for the university and turn away from the failed DEI dysfunction and discrimination of recent years.
It seems very doubtful that Provost Kotlikoff, an author and implementor of many of these failed policies, is the right person for the job of university President. Cornell needs true reformers as President and Provost -- leaders with fortitude and vision who can overcome the DEI monoculture that now engulfs the university.
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