A major Cornell donor says he will no longer donate to the university if it continues to implement diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The donor is also calling for the resignation of the school’s president over her “shameful recent response to clear acts of terrorism and antisemitism.”
“As a proud Cornell alumnus, donor, Member of the Board of Trustees (Emeritus), and Counselor to the President, it is my opinion that Cornell must abandon its misguided commitment to DEI because it has yielded not excellence but disgrace,” Jon A. Lindseth wrote in an open letter to Chairman Kraig Kayser and the Board of Trustees.
“I am proud to count myself one of several generations of Lindseths who are Cornell alumni and invested donors, but I am alarmed by the diminished quality of education offered lately by my alma mater because of its disastrous involvement with DEI policies that have infiltrated every part of the university,” he added.
Lindseth went on to say that he has “spent years hearing the stories of Cornell and its leadership, participating as a student, and sponsoring and funding some of the University’s exemplary past work including the Library (which I continue to fund).”
“I can no longer make general contributions until the university reformulates its approach to education by replacing DEI groupthink with the original noble intent of Cornell,” he added.
Lindseth, who has been one of Cornell’s largest, most prominent donors for several decades, called out the school’s president, Martha E. Pollack, over her response to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel.
“President Pollack’s shameful recent response to clear acts of terrorism and antisemitism compared with her swift and strong response to the George Floyd tragedy demonstrates that Cornell is no longer concerned with discovering and disseminating knowledge, but rather with adhering to DEI groupthink policies and racialization,” he wrote.
“Today the instruction Cornell offers is in DEI groupthink applied to every field of study,” Lindseth added. “The result is a moral decay, some call it ‘rot,’ that falls in line with prevailing ideology and dishonors basic principles of justice and free speech.”
Lindseth went on to assert that Cornell did not become “one of the country’s leading institutions and a proud member of the Ivy League” by putting “more value on DEI’s broad application rather than merit,” which is what has happened under President Pollack’s leadership.
“Under President Pollack’s leadership, antisemitism and general intolerance have increased on campus,” the Cornell alumnus added. “Her lack of leadership in the days following the October 7th massacre is only one of the many examples of poor leadership and failed policies at Cornell.”
Lindseth also pointed to a new campus “bias reporting system,” which he said “fosters a hostile Orwellian environment among neighbors, classmates, and colleagues reporting on one another.”
“The elimination of grades and SATs has created a system in which equal outcomes rather than proven merit has become the objective,” he said. “This is disastrous for a research university that is built upon academic achievement and aims to educate and train some of our country’s leading scientists, architects, and engineers.”
Lindseth has also requested that recent recalls for Pollack’s resignation be added to the agenda of Friday’s emergency board meeting.
“Provost Michael Kotlikoff should also resign for his close involvement in the denigration of Cornell’s academic legacy under DEI,” he added. “I’m sure everyone is familiar with ‘The Peter Principle.’ It being people rise in an organization until they reach their level of incompetence.”
Lindseth concluded, in part, by stating, “No alumnus, student, or faculty member should accept Cornell’s being in this shameful position,” adding, “We need new leadership to correct these intolerable circumstances and to redeem Cornell’s legacy and honor as soon as possible.”
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