As Cornell sees an over $1 billion funding cut from the Trump administration and at least four student visa revocations, President Michael Kotlikoff and Dean of Students Marla Love addressed the Student Assembly at its Thursday meeting.
Funding Cuts
Kotlikoff said that the University still has “not gotten formal notification” of the funding freeze at the Assembly meeting, over a week after The New York Times broke the news of the cuts on April 8, based on information from U.S. officials.
The University received over 75 stop-work orders from the Department of Defense on Monday related to Cornell research “that is profoundly significant to American national defense, cybersecurity, and health,” according to an April 8 University statement. Kotlikoff explained on Thursday that the University is continuing to review work-stop orders issued by the federal government and is currently discussing the withdrawal of some research grants with its executive sponsors.
Kotlikoff also provided updates on ongoing discussions about raising the federal tax on University endowments, which is currently at 1.4 percent of Cornell’s over $10.7 billion endowment. He stated that the administration is working to educate people about the endowment tax and “minimize the impact” for universities.
“We are in the midst of a group of somewhat unprecedented threats to the University, to universities in general, but certainly including Cornell,” Kotlikoff said.
President Kotlikoff and Dean of Students Marla Love speak to members of the Student Assembly.
Resolution 37: Protecting Immigrant Students
The president responded to Resolution 37: Protecting Immigrant Students on Monday, rejecting several of the Assembly’s suggestions and pointing to existing resources for international students.
At Thursday’s meeting, Kotlikoff offered more context for his formal response.
Amid concerns for the safety of international students following numerous executive orders issued by the Trump administration, Resolution 37 proposed implementing an annual mandatory “Know Your Rights” training for all Cornell students, faculty and staff. The training outlines how to respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other external law enforcement officials’ requests for affiliates’ information.
“We have not mandated that training for everyone in the University,” Kotlikoff said. “We don't feel that that's the right way to go about that … — to mandate something [or] to penalize somebody if they don't do it. But we have provided that opportunity for anybody who needs that information."
Resolution 37 also proposed implementing the Welcome Corps on Campus, which utilizes higher education as a resource for U.S. resettlement and a pathway to U.S. citizenship. The WCC also operates under the U.S. Department of State for refugees through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
Kotlikoff did not address the WCC in his written response, Executive Vice President Adam Vinson ’25 pointed out in the question section.
Kotlikoff said he would “like to understand more” about the program before considering it.
‘Cornell Follows the Law’
Kotlikoff clarified his assertion that “Cornell follows the law” in a Feb. 21 University statement that addressed community concerns about changing federal guidelines and regulations to research programs, National Institutes for Health funding and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
At Thursday’s meeting, Kotlikoff distinguished between Cornell obeying “the law” and “what someone asserts is the law,” stating that the University will “stand up to … and oppose” directives that are illegal or “go beyond our understanding of what the law is. “
“People assumed that that meant that we would comply with any assertion,” Kotlikoff said. “That's not really what I said. We will obey the law. That's not what someone asserts is the law.”
