Pollack introduces “The Indispensable Condition: Freedom of Expression at Cornell”

Cornell University President Martha Pollack recently sent out an email to the students of Cornell, formally introducing a university-wide theme for the year, “The Indispensable Condition: Freedom of Expression at Cornell.” 

In it, Pollack introduces that the “theme” for this year will be freedom of expression. She explained all students and faculty will be invited to a number of upcoming events designed to “build understanding and foster discussion around the freedoms on which higher education, and democracy, depend.” 

The university president elaborated that the reasons for the creation of this themed year were recent attacks on freedom of speech, mentioning both the shutting down of speakers, as well as book banning and limiting ideas of discussion in a classroom. 

She also mentioned that academic freedom is “essential to our academic mission of discovering and disseminating new knowledge and educating the next generation of global citizens.”

Pollack also emphasized that freedom of expression is essential to maintaining a healthy democracy. She argued that it teaches students to effectively listen to opposing views and advocate their own. 

Additionally, Pollack explained how Cornell’s twin values of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and freedom of expression can co-exist, seemingly in direct response to a report published by the Cornell Free Speech alliance more than a week ago. 

While there can be “tensions” between the two, the president asserted it is the university’s duty to uphold both values in a manner that “does them both justice.” 

Pollack further elaborates that universities have been “castigated” by both sides of the political spectrum for their decisions revolving around DEI and freedom of expression; the left argues that in order to effectively enforce DEI policies and truly make an inclusive campus, some speech must be limited. The right argues that DEI inherently hurts freedom of speech, and the two are incompatible with each other. 

Pollack then went on to break down each argument. For the first, Pollack argued that speech restrictions generally create more problems than before, as well as ending up hurting the people they were intended to protect, making a reference to Eugene Debs, a prominent socialist from the early 1900s who was jailed on an anti-sedition law. 

For the second, Pollack argues that strong, thoughtful organizations must adopt core values and principles, such as a commitment to inclusion on campus. Pollack mentions the University of Chicago, typically known as a bastion of freedom of speech, as a university that holds a set of core values including diversity, proving that a successful university can uphold both the values of diversity and freedom of expression. 

Pollack wraps up the message by arguing that Cornellians should be creating solutions and uplifting others rather than trying to shut down free speech, as well as emphasizing the creation of an environment where students should not feel the need to “self-censor” and freely express their opinions. 

Background

The topic for the first “themed year” at Cornell stems from several issues that have arisen surrounding freedom of expression both on campus and nationally. 

Last year, conservative guest speaker Ann Coulter was shouted down in a successful attempt to protest her presence on campus. Additionally, Student Assembly Resolution 31– the infamous “trigger warnings” resolution –caused both local and national concern over its potential chilling effect on freedom of speech on campus. 

The resolution called for requiring instructors to preface “graphic traumatic content” with warnings for students beforehand such as on the syllabus. The resolution also would have required professors to “refrain from penalizing students who opt out of exposure to such content”. 

After the resolution received approval from the Student Assembly, it was quickly rejected by President Pollack and VP Lombardi. In an email to the President of the Student Assembly, Pollack explained that the resolution would “infringe on our core commitment to academic freedom and freedom of inquiry, and are at odds with the goals of a Cornell education.”

Last year, in explaining in part her reasoning for rejecting the resolution, Pollack stated that there has been a rise in speech suppression across the country, pointing to examples such as book banning as well as restrictions on what can and cannot be taught in classrooms. 

First Glance Analysis

It is encouraging to see President Pollack and school leadership begin to focus more acutely on the issue of freedom of expression as self censorship and the chilling of free speech has been on the rise at colleges across the country. 

Of note, Pollack states that the events that are happening are to “build understanding and foster discussion” on the subject of freedom of expression. 

This is different from an interpretation that the school is openly welcoming all values and opinions across the political spectrum. When looking at the upcoming events, it is difficult to find speakers from various sides of the political spectrum. 

This may indicate the University is focusing on more neutral freedom of expression events, rather than exposing students to contrarian points of view which could come with the risk of creating controversy.