Letters To

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Re: Cornell’s Restorative Judicial System

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To the Editor: 

In his most recent column, Patrick Mehler ’23 argued that Cornell’s new judicial system is the “most community-focused and recidivism-preventing judicial process across college campuses.” Hyperbole aside, as a member of the Cornell community, I find this claim highly suspect. Under the new system led by Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi, all authority to alter and administer the Student Code of Conduct is vested in Vice President Lombardi. The prior system incorporated Cornell’s shared-governance structure through the University Assembly Codes and Justice Committee which is comprised of representatives from the faculty, staff and student communities. To call anything which strips power from the voices of the Cornell community and hands it to a sole unaccountable authority “inclusive” and “community-focused” is disrespectful to the very idea of inclusivity and community. In 1969, there was a similar debate over the fate of the Cornell judicial system.

Letters To

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Re: Re: “Lifting the FeMale Gaze”

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Last week, Laur Kim ‘23 wrote a Letter to the Editor claiming that my article, “Lifting the FeMale Gaze,” “perpetuates rape culture.” Kim constructs her entire argument around hypotheticals and assumptions, making her claims hard to defend. Kim states explicitly that “the author’s [intentions] to lift other women up” are “clear” but then accuses them of doing precisely the opposite. 

In this Letter to the Editor, Kim perverts my words to support her narrow agenda. Kim claims that my friend “confided” in me, but nowhere in my article did I give the impression that my friend was doing so. In the article, I used the term “friend” loosely, perhaps too loosely. I want to clarify here that this “friend” was a classmate with whom I had taken a number of classes and was “friendly,” but I would not consider us “friends.” I noted in my article that “she didn’t even seem wildly creeped out by her own comment,” which suggests that my classmate was not at all concerned about the situation she was relaying to me. Kim claims that “Pappas’ friend was likely describing an uncomfortable experience,” but she makes the incredible assumption that my friend was uncomfortable with the experience to begin with. As I stated explicitly in my article, my classmate’s tone was one of “nonchalance” and “indifference,” which is to suggest that she was not at all uncomfortable with her professor’s supposed ogling. I wrote that she “flattered herself,” implying that she was flaunting this claim and appeared to take pride in receiving high marks for this sort of perverted attention.

Cornell

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Re: Re: “The Shame of The Greek System”

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To claim, as Kevin Cheng and Aaron Friedman did, that I attacked “the personal and academic integrity of students in the Greek system by implying that students in Greek life cannot be trusted to manage their own time” combines hyperbole with reductive nonsense and has no relation to what I wrote.  

Letters To

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Re: “The Shame of the Greek System”

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We would thus like the opportunity to provide our own views on Greek life, with the hope that we may help both Prof. Schwarz and our fellow Cornellians to better understand why fraternities and sororities still have their place on campus today. 

Featured in Category

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Re: ‘Students Rally for Free TCAT’

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In the Sun article from Oct. 24, “Students Rally for Free TCAT” , Cornell Vice President of University Relations Joel M. Malina is quoted as saying, “Cornell’s contribution goes far beyond those of the City and County in the form of annual fare payments to TCAT, which subsidize the cost of Cornell’s OmniRide bus pass available to employees and students. Of the funds paid to TCAT by the three partners, Cornell provides 70 percent of the total.” 

ann coulter

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Re: “Ann Coulter is Not Welcome Here”

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The Guest Room “Ann Coulter is Not Welcome Here” denounces Cornell’s decision to host a lecture by Ann Coulter ‘84 to be held on Nov. 9.  The op-ed is more performance art than a reasoned argument for violating Cornell’s commitment to free speech and viewpoint diversity.

Letters To

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Please Vote

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Dr. Wickham’s recent letter was an important and helpful clarification of the redistricting changes affecting the Cornell community. With the election just a few days away, I’d like to add a further exhortation for everyone who’s eligible to get out and vote.

Letters To

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Re: “Max Della Pia Earns Democratic Nomination for Special Election in N.Y.-23 as Redistricting Shakes Up N.Y. Congressional Races”

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To the Editor:

I am writing to make sure the Cornell community knows that the congressional district revision last May put us in the highly competitive N.Y.-19 for the U.S. House of Representatives. The Hill listed it first in their story “Seven Races that Could Determine Control of the House,”and both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and The Cook Political Report rate the race a toss-up. FiveThirtyEight’s poll result list for the district is close and mixed.  Your story of May 22, “Max Della Pia Earns Democratic Nomination for Special Election in N.Y.-23 as Redistricting Shakes Up N.Y. Congressional Races,” treated the Aug. 23 special election before discussing our move to N.Y.-19 and came at a busy time, so a heads up seems worthwhile. The Tompkins County Board of Elections website has early voting information and several helpful links, including “Where do I vote?” and “How do I check my registration status?” If your address didn’t get updated on the voter rolls but you are registered in New York, it is still possible to vote by requesting an affidavit ballot.