This summer, while college students binged on Love Island, our universities had their own blossoming love affairs. In the last month, many of our fellow Ivy League schools hard launched their contractual relationship with the Trump administration. Columbia, out of desperation, hastily handed over 200 million to the Trump administration. Brown University agreed to 50 million and Harvard, tempted by billions at stake, is reportedly negotiating a 500 million dollar settlement. However, Cornell has yet to tie the knot with Trump. Some may optimistically believe this a clear rebuff of the Trump administration’s advances, but the words and actions of Cornell’s administration paint a darker picture. Instead of even attempting to ostensibly reject our new authoritarian reality, Cornell has consistently complied in advance. From blatant acts of virtue signaling to material donations to the Trump administration, Cornell has successfully knifed its students in the back while committing fealty to their secret love affair.
Mimicry is the highest form of flattery. This past summer, Kotlikoff took this tactic into overdrive. In June, Kotlikoff, at his State of the University Address, lamented that Cornell has been misunderstood by the media and politicians. Kotlikoff commented that many wrongly believe, “[Ivy League Universities are a place] where the thinking is liberal and woke, but where antisemitism gets a pass… [a] place where protests and pronouns are the priorities, where a flood of DEI and identity politics have washed away any commitment to education, knowledge, or truth.” He’s right! None of this is true about Cornell. The proper response would have been to deconstruct where these wrong conclusions derive from and to present a united front as the under-threat Ivy League. Instead, Kotlikoff, inspired by his orange lover’s playbook, undermined other “woke” Ivy League schools and boasted about how Cornell is not “woke.”
In the eyes of Cornell, one of the reasons they are not “woke” is because of Cornell Tech, which in Kotlikoff’s words is the “most intensive and meaningful collaboration with an Israeli university of any institution in this country.” Cornell Tech is a collaborative school with Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. In 2014, The Nation revealed Technion has performed research for the Israeli government. More specifically, Technion developed unmanned boulders for the Israeli Military. The Israeli government later deployed them in Operation Cast Lead, also known as the Gaza Massacre, killing around 1,400 Palestinians, including 300 children.
The criticisms only grow sharper given our current context. Since Kotlikoff’s address, the Israeli government has been found guilty of genocide by Israeli-based human rights groups, openly expressed a desire to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians, starved to death at least 122 children, assassinated aid workers, and murdered the most journalists of any conflict ever. In the mind of Kotlikoff, our undying loyalty to Israeli blood money separates us from our Ivy League peers. Kotlikoff believes we’re Trump’s best partner in crime.
This summer saw the passing of Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill (BBB). One of the pressing focuses for students should be the increased budget of Immigration and Customs enforcement. ICE’s annual budget has now ballooned to nearly $30 billion, up from just $7 billion. To put that in perspective, if ICE were a sovereign nation’s military, it would rank among the world’s top 20 countries in military spending. Cornell knows exactly what this means. ICE agents have already appeared on our campus when attempting to deport former Cornell Graduate Student Momodou Taal amid his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests.
Last spring, I co-authored Resolution 37: Protect Immigrant Students, which called for commonsense measures: faculty training, legal resources and stronger protections for immigrant and international students. The Student Assembly passed it, the Graduate Assembly passed it, and students made clear what was at stake. But when the chance came to act, President Kotlikoff flatly rejected every recommendation. Instead of building a shield for vulnerable students, Cornell shrugged and quietly updated an FAQ page online, as if a hyperlink could defend against raids and deportations.
While being asked about Taal’s fight with the Trump administration, Kotlikoff described it as a matter of “what the actual basis of the government’s removing visas is. I think that is a question that should be adjudicated in the courts. It shouldn’t be based on First Amendment rights. But if you don’t follow the guidelines that are required as associated with your visa status, that’s a different issue.” This is the core issue with Kotlikoff: he preemptively bows to the king. In his eyes, the government can decide ex post facto that words spoken by a documented immigrant are illegal. And now, with Trump openly musing about deporting even U.S. citizens to foreign mega prisons abroad, the question grows sharper: if Cornell won’t lift a finger when ICE shows up here, what exactly will it take for this university to stand up to power?
While our Ivy League peers are signing big checks addressed to the federal government, Cornell has opted for a direct and seemingly cheaper line to Trump: lobbying. According to data from the US Senate, in quarter two of 2025, Cornell had spent nearly $500,000 on lobbying our government. Furthermore, Cornell paid $140,000 to Miller Strategies, a lobby group founded by Trump’s 2025 inauguration finance chair. Compared to Q2 lobbying efforts last year, Cornell had increased expenditures by almost 70%. The strategy is clear. Whisper sweet nothings into Trump’s ear to protect the University’s financial interests. And to some extent, I understand the approach. But leadership means knowing the difference between protection and surrender. But at what point does this “pragmatism” bleed into complicity? Is it when the deportations become overlooked? Was it when war criminals were given a stage? Or is it when surveillance becomes the price for admission?
This morning, President Kotlikoff sent us all a warm welcome message, reminding us that Cornell was founded as “a place of openness and opportunity” built on “rock-solid commitment to our shared values.” But Cornell cannot quote its values in the morning and bargain them away in the afternoon.
Yihun Stith '26 is an Opinion Columnist and a Computer Science and Government student in the College of Arts & Sciences. His fortnightly column, Stand Up, Fight Back, explores the political structures and power dynamics that shape life at Cornell. Through analysis, critique, and calls to action, the column challenges Cornellians to engage with the world beyond the campus bubble and to fight for a more just and accountable university. He can be reached at ystith@cornellsun.com.
