News and updates

CGSU-UE letters to community

More resources from CGSU-UE – the graduate student union endorsed by over 90% of the student body. The university administration has shared loudly and widely its perspective. Here’s the other side.

https://cornellgradunion.org/adminletter

Board of Trustees:

The current federal administration’s funding cuts pose an unprecedented threat to scientific research and the infrastructure of higher education. As stated clearly in the recent email from Cornell Leadership, “if the research capabilities of America’s universities are destabilized and undermined in this way, no institutions will be capable of filling the void of discovery and innovation as a public good.” We agree completely that this proposed removal of funding constitutes an existential crisis to research and teaching. The standards of excellence in research and teaching at Cornell are at risk, as are the livelihoods of the workers who maintain them. 

During this moment of crisis, Cornell has the opportunity to play a defining role in protecting education and science against our current administration. We need it to rise to the occasion. If federal cuts to research funding proceed, we call on Cornell’s administration to draw on its considerable financial resources, including but not limited to its $10.7 billion endowment, to ensure that research and teaching continue uninterrupted. 

We came to Cornell for its dedication to its mission to “discover, preserve and disseminate knowledge” and arrived committed to advancing human knowledge and higher education with our work. Cornell’s administration can honor the academic mission of this institution and the people who do this work by committing to offset any losses incurred due to federal funding cuts. Now is the moment for Cornell’s administration to embrace its responsibility as a leader in research and education. …

More at the link!

Another letter is for the wider Cornell community:

CGSU-UE Calls on Cornell “To Do the Greatest Good” for Scientific Progress

Federal courts have halted the National Institutes of Health’s catastrophic funding changes, in part thanks to a lawsuit undertaken by Cornell and other university plaintiffs. This lawsuit is a meaningful stand in defense of science and a practical step to protect the University and those who work here, but its effects are temporary. NIH leadership has stated that the Institute will “effectuate the administration’s goals over time,” making it only a matter of time before we face last week’s funding crisis again.  

Beyond the NIH, United States Agency for International Development-dependent projects are in limbo, executive orders are piling up and the research infrastructure that drives scientific progress across the nation is, if not actively crumbling, at risk. During this crisis, Cornell has the opportunity to play a defining role in protecting education and science against our current administration, and we — graduate workers, participants in American society and drivers and beneficiaries of scientific advancement — need our university to rise to the occasion. As federal funding cuts proceed across agencies, we call on Cornell’s administration to draw on its considerable financial resources, including but not limited to its $10.7 billion endowment, to ensure that research and teaching continue uninterrupted across Cornell.

Cornell is a private institution with extensive financial resources. Expert financial stewardship has protected the University during troubling times, and, in recent years, ensured unprecedented investment returns. Cornell’s financial health must be maintained of course, and the value of the endowment must continue to grow — but not for the sake of growth alone, but for the sake of, in Ezra Cornell’s words, “the greatest good.” Cornell’s administration has reminded the University community of the endowment’s purpose repeatedly. It is a “perpetual and self-sustaining source of support for the University and its mission,” designed to protect and advance the University’s workings, especially during times of trouble, explained then-chief financial officer Joanne DeStefano MBA ’97 in 2020. We recognize these parameters. But, should the federal government continue wreaking havoc on the federal agencies that fund our research, the devastation to Cornell’s research community, and to the scientific progress writ large, will be enormous. To protect science against the most aggressive attack we’ve witnessed in decades, Cornell’s administration must draw on its extensive financial resources to ensure research continues uninterrupted. …

More at the link!

GUEST ROOM | CGSU-UE Calls on Cornell “To Do the Greatest Good” for Scientific Progress

AAUP wins in court!

A Legal Win for Members and Our Campuses and Communities

From https://www.aaup.org/news/win-aaup-higher-ed-and-our-communities

Last night, in a case in which the AAUP was a plaintiff, the US District Court for the District of Maryland granted a preliminary nationwide injunction on key parts of a pair of executive orders issued by President Trump. The orders broadly and in vague terms seek to end diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities among federal government grantees and contractors, including virtually all colleges and universities.

In its decision, the court explicitly cited the evidence provided by courageous AAUP members when it found that there were “concrete actual injuries suffered by Plaintiffs and their members” as a result of the unlawful actions of the administration and that AAUP members and their institutions would “be forced to either restrict their legal activities and expression that are arguably related to DEI, or forgo federal funding altogether.”

The decision was in response to a suit filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of four organizations representing different affected groups: the AAUP (representing faculty members), the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (representing their diversity officer members), the City of Baltimore (representing a public sector grantee), and Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (representing a private sector grantee). We sought this temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from using federal grants and contracts as leverage to force colleges and universities to end all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, whether federally funded or not, and from terminating any “equity-related” federal grants or contracts.

As our brief explained, the orders are unconstitutional, usurping congressional power and violating First and Fifth Amendment rights. Absent preliminary relief, significant and irreparable harm would have been caused to our members, their students, and communities. Most importantly, the government could have used the threat of terminating billions of dollars of grants and contracts, as well as the threat of investigations and enforcement actions, to force faculty and universities to cease virtually all of their legally permissible work relating to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

The AAUP’s membership includes many potentially affected faculty: those whose work focuses on Black studies; Latino studies; Asian studies; gender or sexual orientation identities; diversity, equity, and inclusion specifically; environmental justice; and other subject matter targeted by the president’s anti-DEIA executive orders. We also represent a significant number of members who focus on medical and other scientific research related to whether and how race and ethnicity affect health outcomes. Beyond AAUP members, students and communities would be harmed by the termination of the higher education grants: work on female reproductive health would be curtailed; assistance to help students with disabilities and from underrepresented populations graduate and find careers would be undermined; and efforts to strengthen research capacity at historically Black colleges and universities would be set back.

The judge noted that our lawsuit is likely to succeed on the claim that enforcement actions against companies and universities would violate constitutionally protected free speech and wrote: “That is textbook viewpoint-based discrimination . . . . The government’s threat of enforcement is not just targeted towards enforcement of federal law. Rather, the provision expressly targets, and threatens, the expression of views supportive of equity, diversity and inclusion.”

More information:

Day of action:  Mobilizing to defend education on March 4

https://www.aft.org/ProtectOurKids

The AAUP is supporting the American Federation of Teachers’ mobilization to defend education

The Trump administration wants to make painful cuts to education and healthcare in order to slash taxes for billionaires. The administration’s plan to “block grant” federal education programs and gut the U.S. Department of Education would rob 26 million students living in poverty of critical services and 7.5 million students with disabilities of special education support. It would eliminate career and technical education for 12 million students, threatening their future job opportunities. Slashing Medicaid and student loans could strip healthcare coverage from 10.3 million people and end access to student loans, making college unaffordable for another 10 million working-class families.

Join us on March 4 and stand up to protect our kids!

On Tuesday, March 4, educators, students, parents and community allies will stand up against assaults on public education and on opportunity for America’s youth. We are calling on lawmakers to strengthen, not undermine, our local public schools and the services they provide to children, families and communities.

By highlighting the harmful consequences of these attacks on public schools and students, we aim to build public pressure on policymakers and amplify the voices of those directly impacted.

We must:

  • Pressure decision-makers: Urge elected officials at both the federal and state levels to oppose cuts to federal funding and block grants, both of which will hurt kids.
  • Raise awareness: Educate the public about the devastating consequences of dismantling the Department of Education, gutting federal education funding and providing no-strings-attached block grants.
  • Mobilize support: Engage a broad coalition of stakeholders—including educators, students, parents and community members—to participate in actions nationwide.
  • Drive media coverage: Generate media attention through storytelling, coordinated events, rallies, etc.
  • Lift up our stories: Highlight how these cuts disproportionately harm vulnerable students, including those from underserved communities and students with disabilities.
  • Take action in our communities: Wage this fight in the communities where students will lose services they rely on, not just in Washington, D.C. 

Day of Action activities can include:

  1. Local and national events: Organize rallies, marches and teach-ins in key cities and communities on March 4. Partner with local organizations to host panels or town halls focused on the impact of federal education funding cuts.
  2. Advocacy and lobbying: Organize call-in days and email campaigns targeting legislators to urge them to oppose the Trump agenda that will hurt our public schools and communities. Provide participants with scripts and talking points for contacting their representatives.
  3. Story collection and amplification: Collect and share real-life stories from educators, students and parents showcasing the tangible harm cuts to services and supports they rely on will cause. Use videos, blogs and social media to amplify their voices.
  4. Media outreach: Conduct interviews with local media outlets and adapt a sample press release and op-ed featuring impacted individuals.
  5. Digital mobilization: Launch a robust social media campaign with shareable graphics, infographics and videos using the hashtag #ProtectOurKids to drive engagement and awareness.

Resources from the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom – AAUP

The director for the AAUP Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom, Isaac Kamola, is sharing resources for the fight:

The cruelty of the new administration’s attack on democracy and higher education has been staggering, from arbitrary cuts to research funding to the malicious misrepresentation of our work to Linda McMahon’s unwillingness to say that teaching African American history is still legal.

Fighting back requires understanding the threats we face as well as developing the tools necessary to convey the value of higher education to a wide audience. In this context, the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom has recently published a number of resources that we hope will be useful in the fight ahead:

  • Academic Freedom on the Line is a weekly Substack edited by CDAF fellow John Warner. This newsletter examines questions around academic freedom, its role in a democratic society, and what is lost when academic communities face politicized attacks on institutional autonomy and shared governance. Check out posts on CDAF’s mission, the risks of obeying in advance, advice for college and university boards, and reflections on the recent “Dear Colleague” letter.
  • Executive Power Watch is a series of short handouts that offer analyses of education-related executive actions, including executive orders that target diversity, equity, and inclusion; weaponize antisemitism; and target transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people. These resources offer concrete suggestions about what you can do to fight back.
  • Action Reports are short studies that offer concrete analysis and guidance on how to respond to particular threats to academic freedom, such as

Future Action Reports will examine the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and strategies for using collective bargaining agreements to resist post-tenure review laws.

What Do We Do Now? Immigration, Deportation, and Building Solidarity

Panel discussion, sponsored by the Cornell AAUP Chapter, American Studies Program, Departments of Comparative Literature, Romance Studies, and Literatures in English

The Trump administration’s recent executive orders target both undocumented and international students, workers, and scholars and threaten them with deportation as part of an unprecedented scale of racist and xenophobic policies. In this moment of overwhelming repression, we come together as a community and affirm our solidarity. This panel asks: how do we continue to foster critical thought, both intellectually and politically? How do we build a collective movement of resistance? What lessons from the past are relevant today? 

Where: Kaufman Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall G64

When: 5-7 pm Monday, February 10

Who: Panelists are Eric Lee, National Immigration Attorney; Derek Chang, History and Asian American Studies; Joe Margulies, Law and Government; Shannon Gleeson, Global Labor & Work and Latina/o Studies

Moderated by Risa Lieberwitz, Labor and Employment Law, Academic Director of the Worker Institute

Pizza and beverages will be served!