The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/pollack/page/2/)
Following the National Labor Relations Board’s decision that found that many of Starbucks’ actions to its employees who were Cornell students violated the National Labor Relations Act, the Cornell community intensified its questioning of the University’s relationship with Starbucks.
Last week at the Cans film festival, thousands of lucky fans, critics and members of the film community were treated to a sold out premiere screening of the much anticipated new movie, Pollack: A Martha Story. Reuniting Martin Scorsese as director and Paul Schraeder as writer, Pollack stars character actress Margot Martindale as Cornell’s very own beloved president, following her through the early years of her life. It opens from humble beginnings, with Martha only a student at Dartmouth — one of the worst schools in the Ivy League — and follows her as she works her way up to become a graduate student at a marginally better Ivy League school. It charts serious setbacks (serving as an administrator at a public university) and brilliant accomplishments, such as working in the field of AI a mere decade before it actually got exciting. Scorsese films each titillating scene with his trademark flourishes, and presents the hallowed halls of academia in the same manner that he’s previously captured the Mafia, Wall Street Criminals and Gilded Age politicians.
Of course, every biopic is only as good as its central romance, and Pollack is no exception, featuring a brilliant turn from Tilda Swinton as Vice President Ryan Lombardi.
In an email to Student Assembly, President Martha Pollack expressed support for Resolution 20, which promotes increased access to nonprescription health care supplies including contraception through campus vending machines.
Student Assembly started the semester with elections and resolution updates during the first meeting.
In a town hall following the University’s announcement to mandate vaccinations for students returning to campus in the fall, the administration further discussed their plans for the upcoming fall semester.
Effective Jan. 1, the University plans on ending the temporary reductions to Cornell faculty salaries and retirement benefits instituted earlier this year.
Please stop calling President Martha E. Pollack “Martha.” It’s disrespectful and your internalized misogyny is showing every time that you do it. Martha Pollack is the highest ranked faculty member at Cornell University, and the way that students refer to her is telling of continued gender biases in higher academia. There is a major disparity in referencing senior staff at Cornell University, with President Pollack referred to more frequently by her first name than Vice President Ryan Lombardi and Provost Michael Kotlikoff. In common conversation, students abbreviate these administrators’ titles to “Martha,” “Lombardi” and “Kotlikoff.”
Every time I hear a student refer to President Pollack by her first name, I remember my academic advisor’s warning during my first week at Cornell. She sat down her ten new advisees and explained the importance of referring to female professors as “Professor” or “Doctor” rather than “Ms.” or “Mrs.” She explained the struggle that she has faced after years in academia and her frustration when students, and worse, other academics downplayed her accomplishments when they reference her.
The University confirmed that President Martha E. Pollack will slash her pay by one-fifth for a full year.
In an email to students on Friday, President Martha E. Pollack said that commencement will not be canceled, although it will be postponed from its typical date on Memorial Day weekend.
“We need to act as a community to protect the whole community. In addition, beyond our own campus and community, social distancing is extremely important as a way in which we can help to address and mitigate this global pandemic.”