This is a critical time in the life of our University to recognize how far we have come in creating a diverse and inclusive community, but also a time when we must face squarely the long distance we still have to travel. In the wake of our commemoration of the 40th anniversary of The Straight Takeover, I feel compelled to elaborate on my commitment to diversity by sharing some thoughts about what we aim to achieve and how we will know if we are successful. I also want to alert you to some upcoming opportunities to engage the administration and other Cornellians on this set of issues.

Diversity has been a defining characteristic of our University since its founding, a critical factor in its success and is a personal priority. If we are to continue to lead, we must continue to seek and nurture exceptional talent without regard to gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status or other characteristics that too often divide us.

I am concerned, however, about our progress in a number of areas, including three related to the status of women at our University: the representation of women in specific areas of the student body, the representation of women on the faculty and the representation of women in senior leadership positions.

As campuses across the United States reopen after winter breaks, the recent Gaza conflict has been on many people’s minds. This is particularly true at Cornell, which has substantial and activist communities of Jewish and Islamic faiths. Many of us here feel the anguish of the situation in the Middle East.

Some students, faculty and staff have requested that I take some sort of action, or make a public statement in Cornell’s name. These communications have caused me to think again about the role of universities — and university presidents — in events outside our campus but not outside of our hearts and minds.

Just a week before the Presidential election, with unsettling economic news continuing to dominate the headlines, Cornell students have been asking me what they should do in order to succeed professionally in turbulent times. In September, the U.S. economy lost some 159,000 jobs, representing the ninth straight month of job decline, and that seems to have gotten the attention of many people, especially students who will be completing their degrees this year.

My column today was motivated by a current controversy on our campus and by the larger issues it represents. Articles in the Cornell Review’s orientation issue have once again put issues of civility, diversity, and free speech squarely before our campus community and the greater Cornell family. The views as expressed in the Review articles — one focused on minority students and one satirically linking Muslims to terrorism — were clearly at odds with the values of our university.

The current controversy raises three broad issues:

1. How should we as a campus respond to writings and other forms of speech that target certain groups within our campus community in ways that many find offensive?

As I begin my third year at Cornell and my third year as a columnist for the Daily Sun, I want to welcome all of you to the new semester, to the run up to the 2008 Presidential election, and to what I hope will be a semester and a year of public service and civic and political engagement for many members of the Cornell community. Cornell is uniquely suited to contribute to the national debate and by doing so, to participate in solving many of our toughest problems. The 2008 Democratic National Convention, which just concluded in Denver, affirmed the candidacy of Barack Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden. The 2008 Republican National Conven­tion began yesterday in Minneapolis-St. Paul to affirm its presumed nominee, John McCain, and his vice presidential choice, Sarah Palin.

The University Assembly has approved a revised Code of Judicial Conduct (the “Campus Code”) as prepared by the Codes and Judicial Committee, and I wholeheartedly congratulate both of these bodies and concur with the proposed revision. This day marks the end of a long and sometimes difficult process. It is a good day for shared governance on our campus.

The revised code accommodates in a balanced way the rights of the accused, the needs of victims, and the interests of the university community. The new code upholds important principles of individual and institutional fairness and accountability. And it does so in a way that renders the code more balanced and comprehensible, and makes it more of a “Cornell Code” and less like a criminal code.

During Cornell’s spring break I had the opportunity to attend the first meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University, a new project of the William J. Clinton Foundation designed to challenge college students and institutions to take concrete steps, large or small, to address social problems wherever they occur around the world. There were more than 700 students, including two Cornell students, at the meeting, representing colleges and universities around the country, as well as numerous college and university presidents. Each came ready to make a commitment of time, money, goods or skills that would help improve a specific social, economic or other problem.

The campus is engaged in the incredibly important task of reviewing its Code of Conduct. How we proceed toward such a successful end could set an example for shared governance on campus in the years to come. While this requires the University’s leadership to promote a broad dialogue and greater transparency as well as to be willing to listen to all parties — a charge I welcome — it also places a special responsibility on campus representatives to resist the expedient in favor of what is important in the long run.

What makes a great research university? The usual answers to this question are outstanding faculty, excellent and committed staff, talented students, cutting-edge facilities and robust institutional support for scholarly activities. All of these are true, but perhaps the core characteristic of a great research university is the presence of graduate and professional education.

Much of the rhetoric surrounding higher education tends to focus on undergraduate education, including discussions of access to higher education itself, tuition, financial aid, student life and other matters.