Reminiscing on the events which transpired the past three years, one cannot help but notice how quickly many Cornell students, and more broadly speaking, Generation Z as a whole, have forsaken the liberal values of higher education. These events in campus politics have challenged long-standing principles, such as academic freedom and respectful discourse, and destabilized the institutions of shared governance.
This semester was particularly contentious, with anti-police and Black Lives Matter protests rocking the country following the horrific death of George Floyd. As previously reported by The Review, one such protest and the altercations at this protest motivated the proposal and passage of two resolutions. One resolution called for Cornell University to cut its ties with the Ithaca Police Department, while the other called for the disarmament of the Cornell University Police Department.
While the first resolution passed on its first ballot, Resolution 11 initially failed to pass. However, not content with the first result, several members of the Student Assembly and the Cornell Abolitionist and Revolutionary Society (CARS) took steps to harass and dox S.A. members who voted against Resolution 11, defending their actions by reframing them as holding representatives “accountable”. Furthermore, the Student Assembly Executive Committee used what could be best described as “cloak-and-dagger tactics” to purge some of the most vocal opponents of Resolution 11. All of these events set the stage for Resolution 30 (a resubmission of Resolution 11) to pass by a close margin. It was no surprise that, on the day of the vote, Resolution 30 predictably passed by a narrow margin of 15-1-13, with the vote held after multiple representatives had to leave the meeting due to religious obligations.
Following this, the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) compiled and released a report on the Student Assembly, using only publicly available information. After screenshots of a Cornell Republicans (CRs) group chat discussing the YAF report were released to the public, multiple members of CARS were quick to accuse them of helping create the report and promoting the targeted harassment of proponents of disarmament. Following a close examination of the group chat and the screenshots in question, The Review cannot come to the conclusion that either the Cornell Republicans or its members have collaborated with YAF to release this report. Despite this and the lack of a formal investigation by any University-affiliated entity, even our peer publication The Cornell Daily Sun, was quick to accuse and condemn the CRs. Shortly after this, the CR’s released an official statement, reiterating their lack of involvement with YAF’s report, condemnation of targeted harassment, and their commitment to the First Amendment.
Obviously, I join with the Cornell Republicans in condemning any and all targeted harassment and physical violence. However, this latest incident should not distract any rational and civically-minded student from the blatant hypocrisy that permeates the current Student Assembly’s leadership. It is not right to dox one’s opponents and subject them to repeated verbal harassment, calling it “accountability”, especially while similar episodes are labeled as “targeted harassment”. And it is undemocratic to ignore institutional rules and subvert the elected Assembly to remove one’s political opponents from expressing meaningful opposition.
However, it seems that many of my peers do not agree. In the weeks following the backlash from the YAF report, I have seen my peers accepting the S.A. leadership’s narrative, reposting it on multiple social media platforms. Many do not understand the full context of the situation, condemning me for simply re-posting the statement issued by the CRs. Considering less than 17% of students voted in the past election, it’s clear that students are disillusioned with the Assembly. And it is not a surprise that many do not yet see the hypocrisy of the Student Assembly or realize that its Executive Committee is undemocratically attempting to consolidate power.
It is this lack of engagement and noticeable leftward shift of the campus Overton window which present real crises for Cornell’s student body in 2021. Can this trend be reversed during the Spring 2021 Student Assembly elections? I earnestly hope so, but only time will tell.
