One of the largest donors to Cornell University is pulling his funding to the school and calling on its president to resign as the elite institution continues to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology.
In a Tuesday letter to the Cornell Board of Trustees, trustee emeritus and major benefactor Jon Lindseth slammed the school’s dedication to DEI, saying the racialized ideology has created a “toxic academic environment” that only serves to undermine the school’s elite Ivy League status.
“It is my opinion that Cornell must abandon its misguided commitment to DEI because it has yielded not excellence but disgrace,” Lindseth wrote. “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.
“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 continued.
The Cornell alumnus regarded university President Martha Pollack’s response to “clear acts of terrorism and antisemitism” as shameful and compared her handling of campus antisemitism with her quick response to the death of George Floyd — a dichotomy he called “adhering to DEI groupthink policies and racialization.”
Lindseth listed several concerns about Pollack’s leadership and campus culture issues, including the response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, anti-free speech bias response systems that foster a “hostile Orwellian environment among neighbors, classmates, and colleagues reporting on one another,” and the elimination of grades as degrading merit on campus.
Kraig H. Kayser, chair of the Board of Trustees at Cornell, defended Pollack in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“For nearly seven years, I have strongly supported President Pollack, and that support remains strong today,” Kayser said. “The board is working effectively with the administration to respond to various challenges facing higher education and opportunities to advance the university’s mission.”
Joel M. Malina, vice president for university relations, confirmed that the board had received Lindseth’s letter ahead of its meeting this week.
“We have received the letter, which has been forwarded to the chair of the Cornell University Board of Trustees,” Malina said. “Cornell’s trustees are gathering in New York this week as part of a regularly scheduled series of meetings to discuss university affairs. Board meetings are scheduled many years in advance.”
In the letter, Lindseth demanded that his calls for Cornell leadership resignations be added to the agenda for the Board’s emergency meeting on Friday.
“The failure to address a request for Board engagement in this long overdue discussion about the future direction of Cornell is another symptom of the moral rot that has infiltrated all of the Ivy Universities,” he stated.
Lindseth made seven demands in the letter, including the resignations of Pollack and Provost Michael Kotlikoff, getting rid of all DEI staff and programs, adopting Cornell Free Speech Alliance policies, conforming to the Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action, requiring new leadership to sign a free speech pledge, terminating the school’s bias reporting system, and canceling plans for the “Cornell Center for Racial Justice.”
“There is no racial justice with DEI,” he said.
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“The damage we have seen inflicted upon Cornell’s reputation and academic standing by the current administration grieves me and necessitates a truly comprehensive shift in leadership and priorities to put Cornell back on the path towards academic excellence,” Lindseth added.
The call for resignations comes as universities across the country are facing criticism of their strict adherence to DEI, resulting in frustrated donor bases and alumni organizations at several elite schools.
