A Cornell emeritus trustee and donor announced in a Tuesday letter that he would pull funding and called on the president to resign while criticizing the school’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Cornell’s commitment to DEI is “misguided” and has disgraced the university, Jon Lindseth wrote in the letter addressed to the Board of Trustees and to Chairman Kraig Kayser. He pledged to stop contribution until the school “reformulates its approach to education” by eliminating “DEI groupthink” and called for university President Martha Pollack to resign. (RELATED: Harvard Will Keep Antisemitism Task Force Co-Chair Who Signed Letter Calling Israel A ‘Regime Of Apartheid’)
“The lack of acknowledgement, responsibility, or accountability from the administration in addressing the major threats now confronting the University has left me, as one of her appointed counselors, with the disappointing task of calling for President Martha Pollack’s resignation,” Lindseth wrote. “Provost Michael Kotlikoff should also resign for his close involvement in the denigration of Cornell’s academic legacy under DEI.”
He also wrote that he has “spent years hearing the stories of Cornell and its leadership, participating as a student, and sponsoring and funding some of the University’s exemplary past work including the Library,” but that he “can no longer make general contributions until the university reformulates its approach to education by replacing DEI groupthink with the original noble intent of Cornell.”
ITHACA, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 3: A Cornell University student plays frisbee in a quad on campus on November 3, 2023 in Ithaca, New York. (Photo by Matt Burkhartt/Getty Images)
“Cornell’s embrace of DEI, as embodied in its new Center for Racial Justice and Equitable Outcomes, has or will help spawn an oppressive monoculture, inappropriate political activism, and an environment of fear and intimidation on campus while denigrating the merit based foundations of our university,” he continued. “Faculty, staff, and students are afraid to express their views for fear of punishment and ostracization from the Administration, faculty, and peers.”
Donors have left multiple major universities following a rise in antisemitism on campuses.
“For nearly seven years, I have strongly supported President Pollack, and that support remains strong today. The board is working effectively with the administration to respond to various challenges facing higher education and opportunities to advance the university’s mission,” Kayser told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Cornell did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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