A visitor to Cornell University encounters a professor on a crosswalk.
Visitor: This place has some great architecture. I like the law library in particular. I also like the commanding view of the lake.
Prof.: Yes, the physical plant has some aesthetic value, but our personal care for students and our research make this place great. Faculty members are especially keen on interacting with students. We want them to succeed. And I won’t deny that a successful Cornell student becomes a financial asset during and after a career. Many graduates donate.
Visitor: So, I see on the school's website a statement about student life. Here it is. It reads, “Experience a community that values critical thinking, encourages self-discovery and embraces all walks of life — all surrounded by natural majesty that will inspire your creativity and deepen your focus.”
Prof.: Yes, that’s the Cornell experience.
Visitor: I’ll buy the “natural majesty” part. The gorge on the campus is a great place to contemplate. And nearby, Taughannock Falls is an impressive site. The glaciers did some nice work in shaping the landscape of this part of the Finger Lake topography. But I have some trouble with the rest of the statement.
Prof.: Really? What part?
Visitor: The part that says “embraces all walks of life.”
Prof.: But we do. We have students from around the planet, and we have a diverse research program.
Visitor: Hmmnnnn.
Prof.: What?
Visitor: I just walked by a house occupied by Jews. There was a police car parked outside.
Prof.: Oh! Kids. They’re upset about the Israelis attacking Gaza and killing Palestinians. They want the war to stop, and as kids, they sometimes go a bit to the extreme, making some threats.
Visitor.: So, you don’t see a problem here.
Prof.: No. It will all die down. It’s just some individuals.
Visitor: You mean anti-Semites?
Prof.: No, there are many Jewish students on campus. Jews have long been welcomed into the Cornell community.
Visitor: Well, it’s not just the police car and police on watch. There must be a little more to what is going on at Cornell because I just read that an elderly Cornell graduate and contributor is threatening to pull his gift-giving.
Prof.: Who?
Visitor: The guy's name is Jon A. Lindseth. He says that “DEI has led to moral 'rot' at the university and 'dishonors' the principles of free speech.” * That’s the story I read. And I have to think that he might be onto something. That “equity” part seems counter to the supposed “critical thinking” proclaimed by the staff in the online statement I just read to you. And then there’s that “inclusion” stuff. How inclusive is a university that has to position police outside a Jewish residence to protect the students?
Prof.: Uh…
Visitor: Carl Sagan has to be turning over in his grave. Although he called himself agnostic, he was born into a Jewish family. If your protesting anti-Semites discovered this, they would probably deface the entrance to his home on Stewart Avenue, the one perched on the gorge and called the “Egyptian Tomb” or stand outside the Carl Sagan Institute on campus with signs that read “From the river to the sea.”
Prof.: No, no. We’re not experiencing any violence here. Besides, you can’t deny that the school has done more good than harm over the past 159 years.
Visitor: I’m sure there’s much to praise. But why the shift from excellence to equity? Shouldn’t a university be on the forefront of the battle against mediocrity? What do you think will happen if the university continues on its DEI path? Certainly, the students who have supported a terror organization haven’t given much “critical thought” to the circumstances of a country that has been attacked repeatedly and recently been subjected to a massacre that led to the current conflict. And certainly, the anti-Semitism shown on campus seems to indicate an emotional and not a rational student body—though I recognize that probably most students are wholly indifferent to world affairs, especially during college parties that seem to be rather endless, weekends merging into weekdays. And then there’s the DEI director guy, Derron Borders, of Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management who publicly supported Hamas in a social media statement. ** Makes one wonder whether or not someone should rewrite the third verse of the school’s Alma Mater. Wait! Did I just say “Alma Mater”? Wonder whether Derron Borders has an objection under “inclusivity” to the Latin word for “mother”? “Alma Birthing Person”? Alma Procreans”?
Prof.: Look, Derron is entitled to his opinion. But “third verse”?
Visitor: Don’t you pay attention at graduation ceremonies? Everyone gets a pamphlet with the song on its last page. Everyone is invited to join in the singing:
Braving time and storm.
So through clouds of doubt and darkness
Gleams her beacon light,
Fault and error clear revealing,
Blazing forth the right.
“Fault and error.” Won’t have much “clear revealing” under DEI, will you? If you know him, ask Derron about the anti-Semitism on campus and on the need for a police car outside a Jewish residence. And while you’re at it, ask him if his BLM stance evidenced by his lapel pin excludes WLM, ALM, or, after his statements about Hamas, JLM.
*Major Cornell donor pulls funding over ‘toxic’ DEI culture, pens letter calling for president’s resignation. Fox News. Published online on Jan. 25, 2024, 7:31 a.m. ET
**https://nypost.com/2023/10/10/cornell-diversity-and-inclusion-director-slammed-for-tone-deaf-posts-on-israel-hamas-war/
Visitor: This place has some great architecture. I like the law library in particular. I also like the commanding view of the lake.
Prof.: Yes, the physical plant has some aesthetic value, but our personal care for students and our research make this place great. Faculty members are especially keen on interacting with students. We want them to succeed. And I won’t deny that a successful Cornell student becomes a financial asset during and after a career. Many graduates donate.
Visitor: So, I see on the school's website a statement about student life. Here it is. It reads, “Experience a community that values critical thinking, encourages self-discovery and embraces all walks of life — all surrounded by natural majesty that will inspire your creativity and deepen your focus.”
Prof.: Yes, that’s the Cornell experience.
Visitor: I’ll buy the “natural majesty” part. The gorge on the campus is a great place to contemplate. And nearby, Taughannock Falls is an impressive site. The glaciers did some nice work in shaping the landscape of this part of the Finger Lake topography. But I have some trouble with the rest of the statement.
Prof.: Really? What part?
Visitor: The part that says “embraces all walks of life.”
Prof.: But we do. We have students from around the planet, and we have a diverse research program.
Visitor: Hmmnnnn.
Prof.: What?
Visitor: I just walked by a house occupied by Jews. There was a police car parked outside.
Prof.: Oh! Kids. They’re upset about the Israelis attacking Gaza and killing Palestinians. They want the war to stop, and as kids, they sometimes go a bit to the extreme, making some threats.
Visitor.: So, you don’t see a problem here.
Prof.: No. It will all die down. It’s just some individuals.
Visitor: You mean anti-Semites?
Prof.: No, there are many Jewish students on campus. Jews have long been welcomed into the Cornell community.
Visitor: Well, it’s not just the police car and police on watch. There must be a little more to what is going on at Cornell because I just read that an elderly Cornell graduate and contributor is threatening to pull his gift-giving.
Prof.: Who?
Visitor: The guy's name is Jon A. Lindseth. He says that “DEI has led to moral 'rot' at the university and 'dishonors' the principles of free speech.” * That’s the story I read. And I have to think that he might be onto something. That “equity” part seems counter to the supposed “critical thinking” proclaimed by the staff in the online statement I just read to you. And then there’s that “inclusion” stuff. How inclusive is a university that has to position police outside a Jewish residence to protect the students?
Prof.: Uh…
Visitor: Carl Sagan has to be turning over in his grave. Although he called himself agnostic, he was born into a Jewish family. If your protesting anti-Semites discovered this, they would probably deface the entrance to his home on Stewart Avenue, the one perched on the gorge and called the “Egyptian Tomb” or stand outside the Carl Sagan Institute on campus with signs that read “From the river to the sea.”
Prof.: No, no. We’re not experiencing any violence here. Besides, you can’t deny that the school has done more good than harm over the past 159 years.
Visitor: I’m sure there’s much to praise. But why the shift from excellence to equity? Shouldn’t a university be on the forefront of the battle against mediocrity? What do you think will happen if the university continues on its DEI path? Certainly, the students who have supported a terror organization haven’t given much “critical thought” to the circumstances of a country that has been attacked repeatedly and recently been subjected to a massacre that led to the current conflict. And certainly, the anti-Semitism shown on campus seems to indicate an emotional and not a rational student body—though I recognize that probably most students are wholly indifferent to world affairs, especially during college parties that seem to be rather endless, weekends merging into weekdays. And then there’s the DEI director guy, Derron Borders, of Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management who publicly supported Hamas in a social media statement. ** Makes one wonder whether or not someone should rewrite the third verse of the school’s Alma Mater. Wait! Did I just say “Alma Mater”? Wonder whether Derron Borders has an objection under “inclusivity” to the Latin word for “mother”? “Alma Birthing Person”? Alma Procreans”?
Prof.: Look, Derron is entitled to his opinion. But “third verse”?
Visitor: Don’t you pay attention at graduation ceremonies? Everyone gets a pamphlet with the song on its last page. Everyone is invited to join in the singing:
Braving time and storm.
So through clouds of doubt and darkness
Gleams her beacon light,
Fault and error clear revealing,
Blazing forth the right.
“Fault and error.” Won’t have much “clear revealing” under DEI, will you? If you know him, ask Derron about the anti-Semitism on campus and on the need for a police car outside a Jewish residence. And while you’re at it, ask him if his BLM stance evidenced by his lapel pin excludes WLM, ALM, or, after his statements about Hamas, JLM.
*Major Cornell donor pulls funding over ‘toxic’ DEI culture, pens letter calling for president’s resignation. Fox News. Published online on Jan. 25, 2024, 7:31 a.m. ET
**https://nypost.com/2023/10/10/cornell-diversity-and-inclusion-director-slammed-for-tone-deaf-posts-on-israel-hamas-war/
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