The April 17 National Day of Action had a great turnout at Cornell. We had speakers from across the university, in the sciences, humanities and social sciences, and the law school. We reprint some of these here.
I need to begin my speech with a bit of a history lesson before I can deliver my punchline at the end of my speech that attempts to inspire you to raise your voices in support of Cornell resistance to the current government overreach.
The last time I spoke (with a bullhorn) at a rally like this was back in 2001 when students from the KyotoNow student organization held rallies in front of Day Hall asking Cornell to demonstrate climate leadership by committing to reducing campus emissions consistent with the reductions prescribed in the Kyoto Protocol. After 3 days of rallies, the Cornell administration finally agreed to the reductions. Cornell was the first university in the country to make such a commitment! Then in 2016, Cornell committed to go much further by developing a plan to make the campus carbon neutral by 2035. That same year (2016), former President Hunter Rawlings, gave a speech at a Sustainable Campus Conference where he acknowledged the efforts of KyotoNow students who pushed him to try harder at reducing emissions. The point here is that your voices and bottom-up social action can work to make a better world!
In the ocean class I cover threats of climate change and describe the extraordinary efforts in emission reduction that we must undertake to avoid the worst impacts. I go on to tell students that every so often a generation is called upon to do something extraordinary. I remind them that in 1940 a generation was called upon to rise up and fight a world war to save the democracies of the world. I then then tell them that a new generation – this generation — is now being called upon to do something even more extraordinary, to rise up and decarbonize the global energy system by mid-century to save all of humanity!!
However, it now seems that before we can save all of humanity, we first need to save our own democracy. The threats to Cornell and all US Universities being made by the current presidential administration represents the opening attacks on the freedoms of all Americans.
I share Harvard President’s views that it would be unethical to let politics (right or left) dictate what, where, when and how a university teaches and does research. It is government overreach, and we should stand together and resist it.
I tell ocean students that the historic times we live in today will test us all — both collectively and individually. We can choose to shrink back and be small or we can choose to stand our ground in support of academic freedom and the values that underpin the freedom of all Americans.
What Can You Do?
Students who have taken my ocean class know that I am a big fan of writing letters!
- So, I encourage you to write or call government leaders and ask for their leadership and action to protect the freedoms of Cornell and other US Universities.
- And I especially encourage you to write letters to Cornell’s President and the Trustees in support of resisting the political pressure campaign against Cornell and other US universities.
- Tell them what it would mean to you personally if they chose to resist government overreach. Tell them the pride you would feel for Cornell.
- I am sure Cornell leaders are under a lot of stress these days. And I think they could all use some notes of support.
- If you find it difficult to get your letter sent off, then send it to me. I’ll print them all out and personally deliver them to the Cornell leadership.
I would like to conclude with a short story that will bring this speech full circle. About 4 years ago I gave a webinar talk for Cornell Alumni. I talked about impacts of climate change on the ocean and concluded with a call for bottom-up action to demand leader act on climate change. And I included to KyotoNow story and how they push the Cornell Administration to try harder to reduce emissions that has led to the 2035 Climate Action Plan to make the Ithaca campus carbon neutral by 2035. When I got home from giving my talk I had an email in my inbox from Abby. In that email were these words:
“Thank you, Bruce. I just watched your webinar and was literally moved to tears. I was one of those Kyoto Now! students twenty years ago that you spoke about, and my name is at the base of the clocktower for the solar panels that were installed on Day Hall. I have watched with pride as Cornell has continued on the path that was set in motion that week you described and was touched that you talked about it.”
So, Abby acted when she saw the need – the historic moment! And because she acted, she now gets to cry sweet happy satisfied tears 20 years later! We are once again at one of those important moments in history and I hope you all act now. I hope 20 years from now you can all look back this moment in time and cry sweet happy satisfied tears because you acted when you saw the need!
Thank You!
Bruce Monger is the Stephen H. Weiss Provost’s Teaching Fellow & Senior Lecturer, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Cornell Chapter of the AAUP 