Big tobacco has fallen a long way since the Marlboro Man made his first appearance on a roadside billboard. Over the last half-century, tobacco companies have become the poster children for corporate irresponsibility, charged with ignoring the public welfare in pursuit of the almighty dollar. Cornell must have missed the memo.

In a move overtly designed to legitimize itself as something more than a legalized drug enterprise, Philip Morris USA has agreed to fund almost $1 million worth of research in Cornell’s Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics. This is the same company that laments the health risks of smoking while concurrently manufacturing such national staples as Marlboro and Virginia Slims.

The hypocrisy of tobacco companies like Philip Morris has been well-documented, but the hypocrisy of Cornell, at least in this instance, merits another look. Cornell may be hard up for cash, but the decision to affiliate with a major tobacco company ignores the established moral code of this University.

By now, the health risks associated with smoking and the disingenuous history of big tobacco are without question. According to the Center for Disease Control, tobacco use leads to nearly five million deaths worldwide every year, including 438,000 deaths in the United States alone. If the trend persists, tobacco use will be linked to more than 10 million deaths annually by 2020.

The crippling health effects of tobacco use are costly. According to the CDC, public and private health care expenditures that stem from tobacco-related illness total almost $97 billion every year. That total is sure to increase, along with a rising rate of tobacco-related fatalities, in the years to come.

Fortunately, this country is beginning to make progress in the fight against big tobacco. Efforts to raise awareness among American youth about the dangers of smoking are stronger than ever, and Americans are starting to take notice of the addictive and deadly nature of tobacco products.

Such progress makes it even more puzzling that Cornell would choose to entangle itself with a major tobacco company, albeit in the spirit of academic research. Cornell has a responsibility to stand up for the public welfare, and an affiliation with Philip Morris sends all the wrong messages about this University’s position on public health. The United States is on its way to defeating big tobacco, and the Big Red does this country a disservice by legitimizing tobacco manufacture through corporate partnership.

The relationship is especially unclear given Cornell’s decision last year to divest from companies with financial ties in Darfur and the Sudan. Cornell has demonstrated a history of taking action against gross corporate irresponsibility, yet the University continues to support a company that is killing people in the here and now.

Cornell is toeing a thin line in its affiliation with big tobacco. Schools like the University of Texas have spurned donations from major tobacco companies, yet this University has yet to take a similar stand. It’s time for that to change. Sure, big tobacco might be peddling some serious cash. But rich or poor, the Marlboro Man can never be welcome in Uncle Ezra’s house.