The Sun will always stand for free expression. As an independent newspaper, we understand that neutral judgment requires an inflexible commitment to uninhibited discourse. We are weary that the University has complied with partisan demands that undermine its own freedom of expression: the quiet retraction of institutional statements on gender-affirming care and diversity, equity and inclusion principles. In the face of an egregious threat to its institutional values, the administration must hold the line against government overreach.
Federal agencies under President Donald Trump’s leadership announced earlier this month that they would withhold $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University, citing its failure to address antisemitism on its campus. The Department of Education later confirmed that 60 universities were under investigation for the same transgression — our school was on that list.
Trump’s message is clear: suppress opposition. In May, the Columbia administration sanctioned hundreds of arrests at the pro-Palestinian occupation of Hamilton Hall. Last month, it expelled student protestors for the first time in over 50 years. Columbia employed its most punitive measures in an effort to mitigate antisemitism — even this could not win Trump’s approval.
The federal agenda is not to thwart bigotry, but to coerce educational institutions to align with executive priorities. Trump is concerned with the relative notoriety of an anti-fascist movement on Columbia’s campus. In effect, his federal government established a disturbing precedent that incentivizes universities to prevent oppositional protest movements from gaining public attention.
The University finds itself in a crucial moment to reassess its surrender to Trumpian politics. Last Tuesday, Interim President Michael Kotlikoff announced the formation of a task force to “examine critical questions concerning how and when Cornell should speak institutionally on matters of politics, ideology, current affairs, and world events.” If the task force is to uphold Kotlikoff’s August statement on institutional neutrality, it must ratify an exception for speaking out on political issues that “directly impact the university.” The University must exercise that exception to defend its students’ freedoms.
In 2022, the University criticized the overrule of Roe v. Wade. In 2023, it criticized the ruling against affirmative action in college admissions. In these cases, prior to its official position on neutrality, the University spoke to reinstate its institutional values and resist the pressures that sought to undermine them. It must find its voice again now that neutrality itself is at stake.
As the loudest champion of “any person … any study,” the University must establish the standard for what any institution committed to equity must do by condemning Trump’s flagrant weaponization of the Department of Education. It must refuse to comply with the Trump administration’s censorship and make a public commitment to protect its students’ constitutional rights when federal law enforcement comes to violate them.
There is no such thing as neutrality under government coercion. If the administration wants to keep its silence, it must first know its voice.
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