“Cornell community members who observe an action that negatively impacts our commitment to diversity and inclusion are encouraged to report it to the university.”
-Cornell University Department of Diversity and Inclusion.
Over the course of the 2015-16 school year Cornell students and employees filed 95 reports of “bias incidents” — almost double of the number of reports in 2014-15 and four times the number of reports in 2011-12, according to university records.
The university broadly defines a bias incident as:
an act of bigotry, harassment, or intimidation that occurs on the Cornell campus or within an area that impacts the Cornell community and that one could reasonably conclude is directed at a member or a group of the Cornell community because of that individual’s or group’s actual or perceived age, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status or any combination of these or related factors.
Bias reports can be done anonymously and are “open to anyone with an internet connection,” according to the university website.
A majority of the bias reports in 2015-16 were prompted by speech, clothing or social media posts that the reporting individual found offensive.
On at least a dozen occasions, the university responded with educational sessions — often labelled “interventions” — for the offender(s), designed to prevent future bias incidents from taking place.
In one such instance, a university employee reported a student for “making comments about cross-dressing being a form of deception” and other “derogatory remarks about individuals who identify as trans*.”
According to the report, the university’s Bias Assessment and Response Team (BART) responded by providing “additional educational opportunities for the student to better understand the LGBTQ+ community.”
The report doesn’t indicate if these “educational opportunities” were optional. Additionally, the university’s resident assistants were “instructed to develop programming around the communal values of the building.”
On one occasion, at least seven students filed bias reports about a “South of the Border” event held by a student-operated restaurant on campus. The event was considered to be “disparaging to a number of Latin@ and Hispanic individuals.”
Cornell employees cancelled the event and hosted “an in-depth discussion” with the perpetrators about the need for “cultural sensitivity” in the restaurant business. The university made staff members available to provide support to “impacted students” who were troubled by the event.
In a similar instance, a bias incident was reported after students participating in a male beauty pageant — hosted by a sorority to raise money for women’s heart health — “dressed in sombreros, ponchos, and thick mustaches ran around on stage and distributed coupons for free guacamole.”
The university’s bias response team determined that the students “presented an act that many in the audience found to be mocking traditional Mexican culture.” As a result, the sorority was summoned to meet with the dean of students’ office to go over university “protocols.”
One student reported a peer after the two had “a series of verbal confrontations” that allegedly “featured derogatory language targeted to the Latin@ and Hispanic community.”
In response, the university’s bias response team “assigned two liaisons with an applicable rapport to meet with the student who made the derogatory statements.” The report states that the liaisons had a conversation “about the long-term impacts of the language that was used in relation to the area of employment interest to the student.”
One student was reported for creating a fake Facebook event “mocking the protests of Black students on campus.” The last update to that report stated that the offending student would be “counseled on the impact of the postings on the overall climate of the campus.” The report was tagged, “Verbal Attack.”
In another bias incident, a Cornell employee reported a coworker for displaying a confederate flag on their workplace computer screen. The sight of the confederate flag allegedly made employees “feel uncomfortable and unsafe,” according to the employee filing the report.
As a result, “The case was brought to the attention of the BART, who assigned a liaison to work closely with Workforce Policy & Labor Relations, as well as the local HR representative to address the matter.” The report doesn’t elaborate on what is meant by “address the matter.”
The Foundation for Individuals Rights in Education (FIRE), which rates universities’ policies on free speech, gives Cornell a “Red” speech code rating — the worst possible rating a university can receive.
FIRE notes that Cornell’s policy on sexual misconduct bans “gender-biased or derogatory comments” that make someone feel uncomfortable. Many of Cornell’s reported bias incidents involved cases where students or employees claimed to be on the receiving end of “derogatory” comments.
The university did not respond to an email from The Daily Caller with questions about its bias incident policies.
All 95 bias incidents can be read here.
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