- University President Martha Pollack faces questions from Student Assembly
- Pollack defends Cornell Tech-Technion Partnership, says masks will stay
- Assembly leaves Professional Fraternity Council with $0
Shortly after Benjamin Luckow (‘24) was sworn in as the newest member of the Student Assembly (an Undesignated At-Large Representative, to be precise), university president Martha Pollack came in to deliver remarks and face questioning from representatives.
During her remarks, Pollack highlighted some of the university’s recent accomplishments and initiatives. She announced that Cornell ranked fourth in the Sierra Club’s 2021 Cool Schools ranking, while also emphasizing that the new North Campus Residential Expansion (NCRE) buildings were designed with energy efficiency in mind. Citing the record growth of the university’s endowment this year, the president also announced a separate $500 million initiative to, among other things, increase the number of students who receive aid by 1,000.
However, despite Cornell’s 97% vaccination rate, Pollack said that the university will still “follow the science, and state and federal regulations.” On the question of when masks will finally come off, the president said that federal guidance and state law require the university to keep a mask mandate. It looks like the indoor mask mandate will remain for the foreseeable future.
Reflecting on last week’s two crime events, Pollack also conceded that the university had to improve upon its response to emergencies, specifically providing timely updates that are accurate and detailed. On mental health, the president disagreed with advocates’ demands for a mental health week, stressing that different classes had varying requirements.
As she expounded upon ways Cornell is trying to improve mental health resources, a crowd of protesters from #DoBetterCornell walked into the Memorial Room with signs which said “My Mental Health Matters.” They also carried a giant banner reading, “Action > Emails.” The protesters also handed buttons to spectators, President Pollack, and this author.
Following her speech, Pollack was questioned by representatives. Representatives asked the president about a range of issues, such as the twenty-year residential expansion plan, the implementation of the mental health review’s recommendations, and possible pre-scheduled mental health days.
During one exchange, Assembly Vice President for Internal Operations Joseph Mullen (‘24) applauded the university’s Greater Good Campaign, but argued that a portion of the campaign would be going to fund Cornell Tech and, in turn, Technion, which Mullen believed was connected to an Israeli occupation of Palestine.
President Pollack flatly rejected Mullen’s premise, in line with her 2019 comments on the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement. She added that the university applied a similar policy in its engagements with other countries, such as the People’s Republic of China. “There is no question that there is oppression in China,” Pollack told the Assembly. She insisted that the university must be engaged on an academic level with fellow institutions globally.
After Pollack’s departure, the Assembly again heard proposals for by-line funding today. Though representatives of the Professional Fraternity Council tried to appeal to receive $1/student in by-line funding, the Assembly voted by 12-7-4 to uphold the Appropriations Committee’s recommended amount of $0/student.
The Assembly subsequently raised the funding allocation for Students Helping Students to $5/student for this by-line cycle, overturning the Appropriations Committee’s recommendation. Funding applications from the Cornell University Program Board and Cornell Concert Commission passed without much debate.
