Columns

BERKOWITZ | What’s Next, President Garrett?

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“Cornell Takes A Stand.” “Cornell Becomes First Ivy League to Say Yes To A Green Future.” “Big Red Becomes Big Green.” These would-be front-page headlines could have reaffirmed Cornell’s commitment towards being a “green” leader amongst academic institutions. However, hopes for these headlines becoming a reality were sidelined indefinitely this week in light of the Board of Trustees decision to vote against divesting the University’s fossil fuel investments, compounded by President Garrett backing off from accelerating the Climate Action Plan (CAP). Why is it that the president, who has previously asserted that “moving towards greater sustainability is a priority,” would push back against these initiatives? If we are to give the president the benefit of the doubt despite the counter-intuitiveness of her actions, then it’s reasonable to expect that there are other specific sustainability initiatives in the works. If that’s the case, what are they?

Carbon Neutrality

2035 Carbon Neutrality Goal Not A Priority for Cornell, Garrett Says

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Although the Climate Action Plan report released by President Emeritus David J. Skorton last year stated that Cornell would achieve carbon neutrality by 2035, President Elizabeth Garrett said in an October interview with The Sun that she does not support this initiative. “For me, the more important thing is the research and creative work and education that goes on and not thinking about some arbitrary year date that we really haven’t studied with respect with how feasible it is for us to reach that,” Garrett said. The first version of the Climate Action Plan was released in September 2009, announcing a 2050 goal for campus carbon neutrality. However, Skorton moved the goal date to 2035 after a 2013 Faculty Senate resolution urged the University to accelerate its plans. Skorton pledged to transform Cornell into a carbon neutral campus by 2035 as a way of addressing climate change.

College of Business

Board of Trustees Authorizes College of Business

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Cornell’s Board of Trustees authorized plans for the proposed College of Business Saturday morning, President Elizabeth Garrett and Provost Michael Kotlikoff announced in an email. The College of Business will merge the School of Hotel Administration, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. Garrett and Kotlikoff called the approval of the controversial new school “the beginning of an inclusive and crucial process that will more fully define the details of how the College of Business will be structured.” “The plan for the new college will be developed with broad input from faculty, students, staff and alumni,” they wrote. “We wish to underscore our commitment to making this process inclusive and open for all …

News

Garrett Named UVa’s Distinguished Alumna

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In April, Garrett will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award and speak at UVa. The award, which was established in 1991, aims to “honor alumnae whose contributions at the highest level have brought about progress in a wide range of fields,” according to UVa.

News

Cornell to Open Shanghai Office in 2016

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Cornell’s first international office is expected to open in Shanghai in 2016, as part of a University-wide initiative to increase Cornell’s global presence and students’ accessibility of international programs to Cornell students, according to Laura Spitz JSD ’06, vice provost of international affairs. “Opening a University office in Shanghai, China will create important momentum and signal that Cornell is committed to expanding its international footprint in important and strategic ways,” Spitz said. The office will serve many roles, including convening conferences in Shanghai, recruiting students and maintaining connections with alumni, according to President Elizabeth Garrett. With almost 1,200 alumni living in China, Cornell has strong ties to China, according to Spitz. Additionally, approximately 1,600 Chinese students have studied at Cornell, including approximately 500 undergraduate students, according to Spitz.

Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar

Garrett’s Response to Issues in Qatar Frustrates Students

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Clarification appended
Students from the Cornell Organization for Labor Action are frustrated by the administration’s lack of action, after President Elizabeth Garrett acknowledged through a letter on Nov. 9, but did not approve, a Student Assembly resolution that calls for an investigation of labor practices at Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar. Resolution 16 —”Addressing Labor Issues in Qatar” — was sponsored by COLA and adopted by the S.A. in a 24-1-0 vote on Oct. 16. The resolution, which was then conveyed to Garrett on Oct.

News

Garrett Gives Final Approval for Anabel’s Grocery

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In the midst of a vibrant campus debate on how best to tackle food insecurity, President Elizabeth Garrett gave her approval of the plan to open a student-run grocery store in Anabel Taylor Hall on Nov. 23, clearing the final administrative hurdle blocking the store’s proponents from turning their plan into reality. The resolution to open Anabel’s Grocery was originally approved by the Student Assembly last April as a way to address food insecurity on campus. After President Emeritus David Skorton declined to offer his judgement on the plan in his last months at Cornell, the S.A. debated the issue again this year, and passed a second resolution in favor of the proposal on Nov. 5.

Black Students United

Black Students United Demands to Administrators Leaked Onto Reddit Forum

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A confidential letter detailing the demands issued by Black Students United to President Elizabeth Garrett and Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life, was leaked Saturday on a Cornell subreddit. The subreddit, titled “Cornell University Black Students United demands from secret meeting with President Garrett,” includes a scanned copy of the letter. The description of the post reads, “The Cornell Community has a right to know and debate, before decisions are made.”
The letter makes a series of demands, insisting that the administration rename the Cornell Plantations and create mandatory coursework for all students on systems of power and privilege, “centering [on] the voices of oppressed people,” among others. The letter was delivered to the Office of the President at the end of a silent march to Day Hall on Nov. 17.

Black Students United

Students: Garrett Was Silent on Racial Protests

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This is the second story of a two-part series. “When other universities across the nation were dealing with racial issues, you didn’t speak on their behalf,” a student accused President Elizabeth Garrett at a Tuesday evening forum addressing problems facing Cornell’s students of color. “This week you spoke in solidarity with the people of France, a country all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, yet here in the United States, you couldn’t stand in solidarity.”
Many other students also expressed their frustration that Garrett has not spoken publicly on behalf of those protesting racial inequities on college campuses across the nation at the meeting with Garrett and Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life, facilitated by Black Students United in Ujamaa Residential College. In response to students who said they felt betrayed and unsupported by Cornell, Garrett explained that she prefers to have discussions with students rather than making “a series of statements.”
“It will be my policy to make fewer presidential statements than have happened in the past,” Garrett said. “I think it is more beneficial for me to listen to you, to work with you.

Black Students United

Students Accuse Garrett of Silence Regarding Racial Issues

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“When other universities across the nation were dealing with racial issues, you didn’t speak on their behalf,” a student accused President Elizabeth Garrett at a Tuesday evening forum addressing problems facing Cornell’s students of color. “This week you spoke in solidarity with the people of France, a country all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, yet here in the United States you couldn’t stand in solidarity.”