Responding to months of controversy in the Student Assembly and ongoing tension on campus, the Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in its final meeting Thursday to amend the S.A. bylaws to improve transparency and decrease bias, among other initiatives.
The resolution, sponsored by outgoing S.A. President Patrick Kuehl ’24, mandates anti-bias and transparency training for all members of the Assembly, focusing on steps to recognize implicit bias, increase relationships with individuals and groups in the Cornell community and educate about the proper methods to report bias and harassment.
The resolution also calls for funds to be allocated toward implementing date-rape-drug test kits in and around Cornell’s campus during the Fall 2024 semester.
This resolution comes after a Sun investigation into the conduct of a then-high-ranking Assembly member revealed that he demonstrated a pattern of attempting to block women’s health-related resolutions, including a proposal to implement date-rape-drug test kits at fraternities and Cornell Health.
Proposed by presidential candidate Pedro Da Silveira ’25 in April 2023 to then the Interfraternity Council president and vice presidential candidate George Rocco DeLorenzo ’24, Da Silveira asked if he could campaign on providing free date-rape-drug test kits to fraternities to “maintain an ‘extra safe fun environment’ (you know to really sell myself to the women vote),” an April 21, 2023, message read. The two had an apparent agreement to bar discussion of Greek life from the Student Assembly.
In response, DeLorenzo — who went on to become the vice president of finance of the S.A. before resigning last month due to the findings of an internal ethics investigation — said campus focus was no longer on date rape at fraternities, as it had been in November 2022 after a series of drugging incidents and a sexual assault were reported at Cornell fraternities. “Bringing it back out now does not seem like the best idea,” DeLorenzo wrote, adding that he was not confident test strips work effectively.
When further pressed if Da Silveira could simply campaign on providing funds for Cornell Health to distribute date-rape-drug test kits without mentioning fraternities, DeLorenzo wrote to “pls stay away from this type of stuff.” He added: “There are other ways to get the female vote and this method is thinly veiled at best.” Da Silveira went on to win the presidency, but was ousted when it was publicly revealed he had a Title IX allegation against him. He was later found not responsible for sexual assault by the Title IX Office.
An investigation by the S.A. Office of Ethics found that DeLorenzo, as chair of the Appropriations Committee, acted in a manner that led to a hostile working environment for committee members and various student organizations that receive funding from the committee.
Members from the Gender Justice Advocacy Coalition testified that they “felt uncomfortable during Appropriations Committee meetings, due at least in part to DeLorenzo’s alleged belittling comments toward female presenters and occasionally aggressive demeanor.” In November, DeLorenzo recommended a decrease in funding for GJAC due to a lack of clear financial records, though the ethics investigation did not find evidence of bias in DeLorenzo’s allocation of funds.
Kuehl told The Sun that while this resolution was not created in direct response to the action of DeLorenzo, there is “some correlation,” and it also broadly responses to “vast inequities” that have been brought to light in the last year.
With the passing of Thursday’s resolution, all student organizations that receive funding from the Appropriations Committee will also be granted an ex-officio seat on the Assembly, which Kuehl said is an attempt to facilitate direct communication between organizations and the S.A. outside of advocating for funding.
The resolution further establishes a Campus Pulse Committee, supported by an endowed account with $400,000, to increase the availability of resources to address “pressing needs” on campus. The committee will implement anti-bias programming and work to facilitate community conversations designed to increase “empathy and cross-cultural dialogue between individuals and groups on the Cornell campus.” Included on the committee will be the president of GJAC, or their designee, among other equity-based group leaders.
“The challenges we have seen this year, both inside the Assembly and in the campus community, while unique to this year, certainly won’t be the last challenge that we face as a community,” Kuehl said. “There will be a need for people to have the resources to work through issues together.”