Editor’s Note: The following letter was submitted to the editor on April 16 2025 and was released on April 17 2025 to the Cornell Board of Trustees and general Cornell community.
This is an open letter signed by more than 500 Cornell faculty members. On this National Day of Action for Higher Education, we join colleagues from 14 universities around the country who have signed similar letters. Here at Cornell, there will be a rally today at 5:00 pm on Ho Plaza. We hope faculty, staff and students will join us in calling on the Cornell administration to stand up to attacks on higher education.
Dear Members of the Cornell Board of Trustees,
Ongoing attacks on American universities threaten bedrock principles of a democratic society, including rights of free expression, association and inquiry. In light of this unprecedented assault, we urge Cornell’s leadership to do three things:
1. Continue to publicly condemn attacks on universities.
2. Legally contest and refuse to comply with unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and university self-governance. Freedom from political interference has allowed American universities to lead the world in scientific, medical and artistic innovation, as well as humanistic and social scientific research, from which our entire country benefits.
3. Work with other universities and Cornell’s own alumni networks to mount a coordinated opposition to these anti-democratic attacks.
Signed,
The full list of all signees is here.
Cornell faculty are invited to sign the petition here.
