Cornell’s administration has reacted to the Supreme Court’s definitive decision ending race based affirmative action. In a Thursday afternoon email to the Cornell community, President Martha Pollack wrote that the administration was saddened by the ruling in today’s decisions of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and its companion case against UNC.
Pollack began by stating that Cornell has, since its founding in 1865, been committed to diversity and inclusion, “a commitment that was reiterated and enshrined in the University’s core values adopted in 2019.”
The first women were admitted to Cornell in 1870, well before any peer institutions. Cornell likewise began accepting black students early in its history, with the first enrolled student of African descent arriving in Ithaca in 1869, the second year of its operations. However, only in the 1970s did Cornell become so selective that awarding a seat to a member of one identity group came at the expense of applicants outside that group.
The end of affirmative action is nigh. What’s next for Cornell?
Cornell has used race-based affirmative action in its admissions policy for years. In line with Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)—the case that most recently reaffirmed affirmative action—Pollack implies a desire to continue reaping the supposed benefits of a racially diverse class.
Cornell defines its “Community of Belonging” core value:
As a university founded to be a place where “…any person can find instruction…,” we value diversity and inclusion, and we strive to be a welcoming, caring, and equitable community where students, faculty, and staff with different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn, innovate, and work in an environment of respect, and feel empowered to engage in any community conversation.
Diversity has long been the principal motivation for affirmative action in college admissions. The majority in Grutter, for example, praised the “benefits that flow from a diverse student body.” The Court then believed that viewpoint diversity (arguably the most important form for a college campus) was best served by racial bias, albeit with a strict end date.
Pollack stated in the afternoon email:
When universities are free to admit broadly diverse classes through an individualized and holistic application review process, they are intentionally creating a student body with the potential to create a spark of insight, to advance knowledge, and to challenge one another and thereby strengthen an argument or call an assumption into question. For generations, Cornell’s remarkable students have done just that by bringing different perspectives and backgrounds to their education both inside and outside of the classroom.
Pollack promised compliance from the university. However, her email strongly implied that Cornell would be looking for ways to continue its race-based policies, stating: “As always, Cornell will follow the law, but within its scope we will remain a welcoming community.”
Should Cornell weigh in on politics? Many schools maintain “institutional neutrality.”
According to a new Pew Research poll, a majority of Americans think race should not be considered as part of college admissions, including overwhelming majorities of each surveyed ethnicity.
In total, 82% of Americans believe colleges “should not consider” race when deciding on admissions. No polling data of Cornell students has been released, nor has the interim report of Cornell’s admissions policy task force.
Pollack spoke on Cornell’s behalf throughout the email, calling to mind a similar communique from slightly over one year ago. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) that overturned Roe v. Wade (1973), the Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine sent a statement to all Cornellians expressing his disapproval.
Both Pollack’s email today and Choi’s from last year are potent reminders of Cornell’s refusal to adopt institutional neutrality on political topics.
This is a breaking news story that will be updated as more details become available.
