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The Campus Code and Shared Governance
April 30, 2008 - 12:00amThe 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.
An Invitation to Engage
April 2, 2008 - 12:00amDuring 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.
Making the Campus Code Work
February 19, 2008 - 1:00amThe 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.
Center Stage
January 30, 2008 - 1:00amWhat 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.
Student Housing at Cornell: Changes and Challenges
November 28, 2007 - 1:00amStudents living on the West Campus this year have told me, in great detail, what it is like to be living in a construction zone. The heavy equipment, which starts operating punctually at 8 a.m., ensures no problems waking up for an early class. But sleeping in after a late night of studying is simply not an option. Unfortunately, noise, dust and disruption are facts of current West Campus life.
Partly in response to the stress caused by the construction, we have put the West Campus project on an accelerated schedule so that it should be completed two years earlier than originally planned.
The World's Land Grant University
October 24, 2007 - 12:00amCornell is an international university, and over the next several years it is likely to become more so. Is it appropriate for our university to increase our international presence? To encourage more Cornell undergraduates to seek a study abroad experience? To welcome thousands of international students and scholars each year? Should we expend efforts and resources toward internationalization when there are so many pressing needs right here in Ithaca?
I believe that the answer to all those questions is “yes.” Universities need to engage the world to educate American students to function in a global economy, to expose them to the breadth of world cultures and to continue to address common problems in an interconnected world.
Not Whining but Wondering
September 26, 2007 - 12:00amWith this column I continue a tradition begun last year of writing a monthly column for The Cornell Daily Sun. The Sun’s editorial board — led by Jonathan Lieberman ’08, Olivia Oran ’08 and David Wittenberg ’09 — has generously continued to give me freedom regarding topic choice, and they have even offered to provide suggestions for topics they believe would be of interest to Sun readers. I am honored and proud to be a part of The Sun team.
There is a new activist approach to journalism at The Sun this year and in this first From David column of 2007-08, I’d like to explore what that might mean for the newspaper that proudly proclaims on its masthead and banner “Independent since 1880,” suggesting a history of activist thought.
Looking Forward
May 2, 2007 - 1:02amI had intended this final column of the academic year to be one mainly of gratitude to my colleagues at The Cornell Daily Sun and to readers of the newspaper for permitting me this space and for the tremendously helpful feedback I received as a result of these “From David” columns. I look forward to another year of useful interchange through this column and in many other fora in 2007-08.
No Place for Violence
April 4, 2007 - 2:00amIt is nearly impossible to open a newspaper without encountering evidence of violence. Whether in our own community, our state, our nation or most places throughout the world, from Iraq to Darfur, violence is the rule, not the exception. University campuses and communities tend to be places of open discourse. We generally prefer to make our arguments with words, rather than with weapons or fists. But, even at Cornell, we have had the misfortune of experiencing acts of violence or attempted violence many times. We must reject violence as a means of interacting with each other and must not accept violent acts by others, under any circumstances, no matter whom or what the target might be.
Facing Mental Health Issues: Looking Out for Each Other
February 28, 2007 - 2:06amI am concerned about the level of stress and about mental health issues that affect our campus. We have many services available to students and also to faculty and staff members, but I want to be sure that everyone on campus knows what is available and how to access the help they may need. And I want to stress how important it is that we take better care of ourselves and also look out for each other as members of a campus community.