The America First Policy Institute, a non-profit think-tank that promotes President Donald Trump’s policies, filed a federal civil rights complaint against Cornell for its diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices on Thursday that they state prioritize “race and sex over qualifications in faculty hiring” according to its civil rights complaints.
The litigation, which was obtained by The Sun, comes amid backlash the University has faced for removal of its diversity, equity and inclusion references and discrimination resources from its Equal Opportunity Statement. The University later revised the statement to reaffirm its DEI commitments. Trump’s attacks on DEI have sparked both relish and rage among the Cornell community.
The civil rights complaint lists instances of Cornell’s hiring process that “prioritize identity over merit.” The list includes “officially sanctioned” programs at the University, including Toward New Destinations Rubric, Best Practices in Faculty Recruitment, the University's Diversity Dashboard and Best Practices in Faculty Mentoring page.
In addition, the complaint details internal records of “a covert discriminatory hiring scheme” that include emails which were obtained by The Sun, between faculty members, meetings and a report that excluded “more than 98% of otherwise qualified applicants based on their disfavored identity characteristics.”
In a Friday statement, Interim Vice President for University Relations Monica Kinney said that the University strongly disputes the allegations filed and that the references made in the complaint come from “a number of outdated websites or programs that have not been in use for many years.”
“Over the past year, the university has further enhanced its compliance with civil rights laws by engaging outside law firms to audit policy and practices to reflect changes in law or regulations, taking swift corrective action where necessary,” the statement read.
The report also said identity-based scholarships — like the Mellon Mays Fellowship, McNair Scholars Program, Hagberg-Jackson Diversity Scholarship and the Carlos Caceres Law Scholarship — were examples of Cornell’s belief that “skin color, ethnicity and sex are determinative factors in who gets opportunity—and who does not.” The civil rights complaint goes on to explain that these types of scholarships promote the message that “some students are inherently more valued than others.”
The University’s statement affirmed that its financial aid and scholarship programs are “in compliance with applicable laws.” In addition, it stated that Cornell is dedicated to providing financial aid to its undergraduate students “without regard to students’ race, sex, or other protected traits.”
The complaint is filed under Title VI of the 1964 Act and Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, which prohibit discrimination based on race, color, national origin and sex in federally funded education. Additional concerns are raised under Title VII and the False Claims Act.
According to the University’s statement, Cornell “strictly prohibits unlawful bias or discrimination” and that all its practices are in compliance with “applicable laws” including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX and other “federal regulations that applied to federal contractors.” In addition, the University “trains” its employees “on recruitment practices” in compliance with its non-discrimination policy and has an “office that investigates and addresses any claims of bias or discrimination” referring to its newly launched Cornell Office of Civil Rights.
The statement also explains that the University “does not tolerate unlawful discrimination in hiring or any other aspect of any university program or practice” and that Cornell has and will “continue to take prompt, effective, and appropriate action to respond to any and all allegations of any violation of law or the university’s equal opportunity and antidiscrimination policy.”
The AFPI claims an investigation needs to be launched into Cornell’s “conduct” and if the University “made false certifications of compliance with civil rights laws” to ensure federal funds.
Attorney Leigh Ann O’Neill, one of the two lawyers who filed the complaint, says that the AFPI has asked the Department of Justice, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “to collaborate” and investigate these allegations.
According to O’Neill, depending on the investigation's findings, Cornell could be impacted in numerous ways — risking federal funding and scholarships — depending on what this investigation dictates Cornell must do to correct its “potential wrongdoing.”
“The people that are going to be hurt the most by these practices are unfortunately the students,” O’Neill said. “It’s the students’ quality of education and their opportunities at scholarships that are in jeopardy that is what the administration potentially puts at risk.”
O’Neill explained that the investigation would likely affect students, faculty members and administrators in different ways. She said that “different members of the Cornell community” specifically “those involved or affected by the hiring practices” would be interviewed to help the departments decide if Cornell violated federal laws.
She also described the two emails that the AFPI obtained from internal sources at Cornell. One of the emails describes the hiring process. According to the AFPI, in the subject line of the email, the words “diversity hire” are visible and the email states that a University administrator involved in discussions of the hiring process said that it is best to “invite just one person” to be interviewed for the position.
“So the plan would be to invite … who is clearly our top candidate among those that we have been comparing,” the email reads. “If … is not interested, then we would move on to … and so on.”
According to the AFPI, another email, dated on December 13, 2022, discussed the hiring process behind selecting an assistant professor. According to the email, there was an applicant pool of “74 candidates” that was narrowed down to 19 after a series of “evaluation criteria across five categories: DEI, research, teaching, mentoring, and service.”
O’Neill believes that these two emails affirm that Cornell’s hiring processes are “discriminatory” and reflect the “hiring scheme” that eliminates “weak DEI candidates” that were “blatant instances of race space discrimination.”
“And so if a university goes down a path where they're hiring based on immutable characteristics over merit then [they are] inherently undermining the level of scholarly ability and what those professors are able to offer to the students,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill also told The Sun that her biggest piece of advice for students and faculty members at Cornell is to “look closely at the actions of leadership."
“If I was a college student today, I would be looking for a leader, who clearly understands the law, knows that they're not above it and is willing to make some difficult choices that might be necessary in order to follow the law so that the constituents are not jeopardized in the process.”
The University highlighted that it was “deeply disturbed by personal attacks leveled against our faculty members” in its statement.
“Cornell faculty members have devoted their lives to teaching, writing, and research in their fields, and they are all dedicated to providing Cornell students with a world-class education and society with advances in science, engineering, medicine, law, technology, social science, the humanities, and other areas of scholarship,” the statement reads. “Cornell faculty members are among the most learned, accomplished, and well-qualified in their respective academic disciplines.”
Correction, July 16, 8:27 p.m: A previous version of this article used the incorrect name for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
