BELMONTE | Making Trump Sound Normal

BUTLER | Academia Wants Impact? Black History Already Wrote the Manual

Opinion Columnist Natalia Butler M.S./Ph.D. contends that if academia seeks to have real impact, it needs to take inspiration from the long history of Black activism that has not shied away from breaking institutional barriers and stepping into the unknown.

GLASGOW | Your Only MAGA Voice

Opinion Columnist Leo Glasgow '27 defends President Trump’s policies, asserting that his administration has been consistent and focused on common-sense solutions, particularly regarding immigration, tariffs and national security. He critiques the left's response to Trump's presidency, arguing that their rejection of his policies often overlooks key successes.

GUEST ROOM | Measuring What Matters in Student Well-being

Cornell Health Director of Strategic Planning and Data Analysis Abigail Dubovi, Ph.D. explores how Cornell measures student distress, flourishing and key well-being indicators through the Student Well-Being Survey, part of the Health Promoting Campus effort. Findings show improvement alongside persistent inequities and highlight how individual, relational and environmental factors shape well-being. When the survey arrives this spring, student participation helps ensure the results reflect lived experience and guide what comes next.

SELL | Fix the Elevator

Opinion Columnist Wyatt Sell '27 discusses his frustration with Cornell's negligence over campus facilities. He argues that this lack of attention to small, everyday issues shows a lack of respect for students and fosters a sense of cynicism, highlighting the importance of maintaining institutional standards, even in the most mundane areas.

CARUSO | We Need to Negotiate Better

Senior Columnist and MPA student Paul Caruso argues that in a world of ghosting, ultimatums and world conflict, the path forward is to become better negotiators. 

KASSAM | Talking The Walk

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Administration Should Run the University

Cornell alumnus Bradford Garrigues Sr. '77 argues that while students have the right to voice their opinions, they should not dictate university policy. He asserts that disruptive or violent protests should face consequences and emphasizes the importance of students learning life skills, including respect for authority, during their college experience.

BURZLAFF | When Everything Sounds Too Smooth

Opinion Columnist Professor Jan Burzlaff reflects on his growing distrust of fluency in an age shaped by generative AI. In contrast, he defends friction — intellectual tension, uncertainty and disagreement — as essential to learning on campus and democratic life.

WALTER | Self-Loathing: The Anti-Evolutionary Parasite of Campus Society

Which aspects of human nature are denied by modern systems? We’re encouraged to be neurotypical thinkers, to deprioritize consciousness and exploit materialism. We’re turned from the wilderness with cages that masquerade as amenities, desperate for vehicles of expression untaught to us. Onion Theory is dedicated to exposing where these denials are hosted. Based in Buddhist theology and world peace ideology, Opinion Columnist Kira Walter ‘26 shares where she sees disparities in high-competition structures defining the 21st century. As she’s navigated schizophrenia and synesthesia in her last semester, she imparts final observations and looming concerns before indulging in chapters beyond the undergraduate ledge. 

GUEST ROOM | The Solution to Late Buses Isn’t to Take Money from TCAT

Guest Columnist Sam Poole '28 discusses the relationship between Cornell University and TCAT, emphasizing how the university’s penalties for delayed bus service contribute to the system’s financial instability. He argues that Cornell's insufficient contributions, coupled with the penalty system, hinder TCAT’s ability to maintain reliable service. He calls on students to pressure the administration for increased funding and the elimination of penalties to ensure a sustainable and efficient transportation system and experience.

GUEST ROOM | Hey Cornell, Stop Supporting ICE

Guest Columnist Max Ehrlich '26 comments on the recent ICE protest on campus and the legal obligation for Cornell to enforce Student Assembly's Resolution 9 to discontinue collaboration with ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). He condemns the administration's disregard for the resolution and calls for immediate action to enforce the agreement, pointing to the moral and legal implications of supporting federal deportation efforts.

JASO | Is 'Gay' Really All We Are?

Opinion Columnist Francis Jaso '28 critiques the modern categorization of male homosexuality, arguing that the overly defined "gay identity" has overshadowed individual complexity and historical nuance. Drawing on cultural and historical examples, he highlights how sexual identity, once a private matter, has evolved into a politically weaponized category and calls for a reclamation of identity beyond sexual acts, urging gay men to go beyond superficial labels and cultivate richer, more varied personal narratives.

VINK | Cornell Is Recruiting for ICE

Opinion Columnist Adriana Vink ‘27 analyzes Cornell’s complicity in ICE’s inhumane kidnappings and killings, detailing the University’s promotion of Customs and Border Patrol recruitment events and on-campus events with technology and weapons manufacturers like Anduril Industries.

COMMITTEE ON THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY | Treat University Critics Like Reviewer #2

The Committee on the Future of the American University proposes one way to effectively respond to critics of universities, informed by their experiences as researchers and academics who have been on the receiving end of unfair criticism themselves.

TOBIN | Free Speech Until It's Uncomfortable

Opinion Columnist Lali Tobin MPA '27 looks into whether Cornell genuinely supports free expression for students, especially when speech is disruptive or politically sensitive. By examining recent protests, policy changes and campus reactions, it suggests that Cornell's approach to free speech tends to be inconsistent and conditional. The article urges the university to go beyond merely handling controversial issues and to more effectively safeguard student expression in practice, not just in theory.

GALPERIN | Cornell's Qatar Quandary

Opinion Columnist Ezra Galperin ’27 responds to the recent report on Qatari money at Cornell and calls on the University to cease its ties with the State of Qatar.