Petitions Demand Radical Changes to Cornell

Yesterday, two joint petitions began circulating on social media demanding a number of radical changes be implemented by Cornell University for the Fall 2020 semester. The proposals include establishing an “Alternative Justice Board”, disarming and disbanding the Cornell University Police Department, the establishment of a Cornell University Police Department Oversight Committee, mandatory training on and implementation of preferred pronoun use with regard to transsexual and non-binary people, reporting guidelines for “oppressive behavior” committed by both faculty and students, and regular required coursework for students and employees regarding power, privilege, and oppression in the United States.

These proposed radical changes would further suppress free speech and create a campus culture void of due process and safety.  Organizers of the petitions demand the creation of an “Alternative Justice Board” composed of students who will have the authority to “decide what the appropriate punishments are when students are harmed/hurt by other students or student organizations.”  The board would “make students more comfortable in bringing forth allegations of racist and other misbehavior perpetrated by their peers.” 

Of course, there are already various mechanisms in place for reporting instances of racial discrimination on campus.  The suggestion that students should be the final arbiter in determining what constitutes bigotry and the appropriate response to said bigotry raises important questions. What is bigotry?  According to the organizers of this petition, Professor Dave Collum’s tweet defending the Buffalo police officers involved in an altercation with an aggressive protester was such an egregious offense that he should be fired. Similarly, in a coordinated effort reminiscent of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, members of the campus community have called for the firing and public denouncement of Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson for criticizing the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement. It has become evident that the leftist mob views any speech it disagrees with as hate speech.

Aside from the blatant assault on freedom of speech, the activists’ push to disband the police department would make the campus less safe and endanger Cornellians. With no force to uphold the law, the university will be unable to protect its students from murder, rape, robbery, and other violent crimes. The policies of disarming, defunding, and disbanding CUPD would result in a state of anarchy.

The demands in these manifestos echo the nationwide push to curtail freedom of speech, abolish the police, and burn down our institutions.  The physical violence America has witnessed over the past two weeks is the manifestation of decades of indoctrination on college campuses. It is the responsibility of patriotic Americans to stand up to those trying to tear down the fabric of Western society.