The Student Assembly discussed plans for Spring 2026, moved forward two previously proposed resolutions centered on allocating Assembly funds, Resolutions 23 and 24, to a third reading and voiced dissatisfaction with the administration’s speed in responding to resolutions during a Thursday meeting.
During the meeting, Assembly representatives voiced their growing frustration with the pace at which resolutions are advanced, directing criticism toward President Michael Kotlikoff and the Cornell administration who are responsible for responding to Assembly proposals within 30 days, according to the Student Assembly charter.
Max Ehrlich ’26, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations representative, shared his dissatisfaction with the administration’s response time, and said that the University should be held to the 30-day deadline.
“If they don’t respond to [resolutions] within 30 days, that legislation is inactive, that is a real, binding contract … in the real world, when you violate a freaking contract, people sue you,” Ehrlich said during the meeting. “Theoretically, a court of law could tell them to f*ck off and do what they’re supposed to f*cking do.”
Ehrlich specifically referenced delays in the administration’s response to his previously proposed resolution criticizing Cornell Career Services’ promotion of ICE jobs through the job posting platform, Handshake, as a specific example of Kotlikoff’s inaction.
“I feel like people would be more comfortable [completing resolutions] if the president of the University met his obligation to this assembly to actually respond in a timely manner to our resolutions,” Ehrlich said. “I think there’s a broader conversation to be had if there’s more we should be doing about the fact that he doesn’t respond.”
Ehrlich’s comment was met with nods and snaps from his fellow representatives. Others also expressed their frustration with the speed at which administration answers the Assembly’s resolutions.
Admir Cekic ’26, the first-generation college students representative, said that he sees a need to expedite the resolution-passing process and eliminate bureaucratic redundancies.
“I think another reason why things happen so slowly is that it effectively takes two to three weeks for a resolution to get passed with the reading calendar system,” Cekic said during the meeting. “I think it would be more productive if we went to how the Student Assembly used to be a few years back, when a presented resolution would be voted on that day.”
The Assembly also presented two resolutions that both aimed to transfer money from the Assembly’s reserve fund. The reserve fund currently totals over $552,000.
Resolution 24, authored by ALANA’s Vice President of Finance Hayden Watkins ’28, proposes allocating funds from the Assembly’s reserve, this time to the Assembly’s Special Projects Fund, which provides financial assistance to student organizations through an application process. The Special Projects Fund was most recently used to send Black Students United to the Congressional Black Caucus Retreat.
With several student organizations having already applied for funding from the Special Projects Fund during the spring semester, the resolution requests that $15,000 be transferred into this subaccount of the Assembly’s reserve fund.
Resolution 24 was passed to a third reading.
The second resolution, Resolution 23, moves to transfer funds from the Student Assembly reserve fund to the ALANA Intercultural Board, a supplementary funding board and student organization that aims to provide programming and services that promote diversity and interculturalism across Cornell.
This action follows controversy during the fall semester, when the Assembly’s finance committee recommended reducing funding for ALANA, Cornell’s Multicultural Greek & Fraternal Council and the International Student Association. After members of these organizations and other student advocacy groups packed the three-hour-long October meeting and voiced their concerns, the Assembly ultimately rejected the committee’s proposal.
Now, the Student Assembly president, the vice president of finance, and the deputy to the vice president of finance have introduced Resolution 23, which proposes transferring $50,000 from the Assembly’s reserve fund directly to ALANA.
“The fiscal stability of ALANA’s sub-organizations is essential to the proper function of Cornell University’s undergraduate student community,” the resolution reads.
The organization’s financial situation has been “pretty complicated,” and it ran out of money quickly due to a lack of communication from their first advisor about the organization’s finances, Watkins said during the meeting.
The Assembly unanimously voted to move Resolution 23 on to the next round of readings.
“This is to help ALANA get back on their feet,” Watkins added. “We want to work with them to build more physical stability.”
Vivienne Cierski is a freshman in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a Sun Contributor and can be reached at vsc38@cornell.edu
