Rep. Jason Smith (R-M.O.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, sent a second letter to President Martha Pollack regarding concerns about Cornell’s “approach to protecting Jewish students” amid controversial demonstrations on campus.
Two months ago, Smith sent his first letter to Pollack and other elite university presidents alleging that the institutions’ diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and expression and protest guidelines reflected a “failure to adequately protect Jewish students from discrimination and harassment.” In the letter from January, Smith requested information about the contents of these policies and called into question whether the universities suitably complied with federal anti-discrimination laws to justify sustaining their tax-exempt statuses.
The Thursday letter includes six questions requesting similar information about antisemitism; diversity, equity and inclusion and freedom of speech, as well as information on foreign funding to Cornell.
Smith disclosed that the University responded to the January letter and requested additional information in response to “antisemitic incidents” that have occurred since the start of the semester. The letter states that compliance with Smith’s request for information is “essential to justifying the generous tax-exempt status that the American people have provided institutions like [Cornell] for decades.”
Lindsey Knewstub, a representative of Cornell University Media Relations, said that the University has received the March 21 letter and will issue a response but declined to comment on the contents of this planned response and about the University’s previous correspondence with the Ways and Means Committee in January.
In his letter on Thursday, Smith said the Ways and Means Committee intended to gain a better understanding of a “pervasive culture [that] has created a hostile environment for Jews on campus.”
Smith cited a Feb. 2 rally in front of Day Hall led by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation where protesters praised the Yemeni Houthi rebels.
“Yemen, Yemen, make us proud. Turn another ship around,” protesters chanted, referencing the rebels’ attacks on commercial vessels and a U.S. warship in the Red Sea.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced in a Jan. 17 press release that the U.S. Department of State would designate the Houthis — whose official slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory to Islam” — as a terrorist organization on Feb. 16.
Smith said the structure of CML — a coalition of over 40 campus and surrounding community organizations rather than a registered student group — “appears designed to avoid university discipline.”
Smith asked Pollack to detail the specific disciplinary actions taken against protesters and “incident[s] at issue related to such discipline” at demonstrations since Oct. 7.
Knewstub told The Sun that federal law guards the privacy of students’ educational records when asked in a Feb. 12 email for updates about the disciplinary action for participants in the Feb. 8 divestment protest, where students were referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards after the protest broke the Interim Expressive Activity Policy.
Smith also inquired about the University’s free speech policies and funding from foreign governments.
The controversial Interim Expressive Activity Policy, which was issued Jan. 24 and updated March 11, outlines guidelines restricting disruptive protests and demonstrations. Vice President and General Counsel Donica Varner told The Sun that work on the policy predated the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks and that she saw a need for expressive activity guidelines as early as December 2020.
When asked, Knewstub did not indicate whether the initial letter from the Ways and Means Committee had any influence on the provisions of the Interim Expressive Activity Policy.
In July 2019, the U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Cornell’s compliance with Section 117 of the Higher Education Act after it accused the University of failing to report foreign gifts and contracts from Qatar, which is Hamas’ largest financial backer and the country where several of Hamas’ billionaire leaders have taken refuge.
According to an October 2020 University statement, Cornell found over $1 billion missing from its reporting of funds received from the Qatar Foundation — a state-led education and research nonprofit — for the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.
Smith gave Pollack an April 4 deadline to answer the six questions included in the letter for the committee.