Dear President Martha E. Pollack, Vice Provost Michael Kotlikoff, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Mary Opperman, Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi and Chief David Honan,
On June 4th, Buffalo police brutalized an elderly man in an upheaval of police abuse that has spanned this country. Cornell Prof. David Collum ’77, Chemistry, publicly defended that violence. In your statement the next day, you claimed that “Professor Collum has a right to express his views in his private life.” This so-called “right”—to express your views and remain a professor at an elite institution—is not borne from the Constitution, nor any federal or state law: The University extends it, and can just as easily take it away. We, the undersigned, urge you to consider the consequences of extending this right to David Collum.
You wrote that “Cornell is founded on a vision of a university, and by extension, a world for “any person.” Do you believe that “any person” would feel safe working for or taking a class from Prof. Collum? Few should, given his publicized history making light of rape, attacking transgender and gender nonconforming people, and now engaging with racist police apologetics. So long as he remains a professor of chemistry, students enrolling in chemistry classes and graduate programs must look over their shoulders.
When some people enroll in classes or apply to graduate school, they get to focus on the academic merits of their decision: who does the best research, or will teach what you need to learn? So long as people like Prof. Collum remain on Cornell’s faculty, that ability remains a privilege. Should women, black and brown people, transgender and gender nonconforming people and other marginalized communities have to research both the science and the personal views of prospective faculty mentors? Every day that you leave Prof. Collum in his position, you say that they should.
Restricting Cornell’s safe options for mentorship is a tool of discrimination. Every faculty member whose bigoted words and actions preclude their safe mentorship of marginalized people is a portion of the department that has implicitly said they aren’t welcome. It is a percentage of academic positions that they simply cannot take. By tolerating Prof. Collum, you are decreasing the marginalized population of Cornell’s Chemistry department. His presence does and will continue to lead people to self-select away.
If this is the Cornell you want—a Cornell for “any person,” so long as they are brave enough to submit to the power of someone who publicly despises them—then this is what you have. President Martha Pollack, in your June 3rd statement you wrote,
Words are important. Words matter. But our words – of sympathy, of support, of shared pain – are not enough. While the challenges are enormous, and we cannot fix them on our own, that does not absolve us from taking whatever steps we can to fight against systemic racism and structural inequality.
Your mere words of condemnation do nothing but tell potential students: We have this man on faculty, and we will keep him here to harm you.
Sincerely,
Abhinav Jindal, PhD Candidate
Abraham Francis, Undergraduate and Graduate School
Adele, Alumni
Aisha A Abbassi, BFA 2016
Alana Sullivan, Class of 2020 Undergraduate
alessandro powell, alumnus
Alexandra Chivu, Grad Student
alexandra dalferro, graduate student
Alexandra Molina, Graduate Student
Alice Wolff, PhD Student
Amairani Marin Tovar, Class of 2020
Aman Banerji, Graduate Student
Amanda Recupero, PhD candidate
Anat Belasen, Postdoc in Ecology and Evolution
Andrea Darby, Graduate student
Andrea Fiorentini, Alumn Class of 2016
Andrea Robinson, Graduate Student
Andreia Fenley, PhD student
Anissa Rahadiningtyas, Graduate student
Anita Minniefield, Alumna
Anna McCormick, former graduate student, Dept. of English
Anna Whittemore, Graduate student
Anupreksha Jain, Alumna
Andy Barrientos-Gómez, PhD Candidate
Apriele Minott, Cornell Law Student
Ariel Estrella, PhD Student
Abhinav Jindal, PhD Candidate
Abraham Francis, Undergraduate and Graduate School
Adele, Alumni
Aisha A Abbassi, BFA 2016
Alana Sullivan, Class of 2020 Undergraduate
alessandro powell, alumnus
Alexandra Chivu, Grad Student
alexandra dalferro, graduate student
Alexandra Molina, Graduate Student
Alice Wolff, PhD Student
Amairani Marin Tovar, Class of 2020
Aman Banerji, Graduate Student
Amanda Recupero, PhD candidate
Amy Penick, ChemE ‘17
Anat Belasen, Postdoc in Ecology and Evolution
Andrea Darby, Graduate student
Andrea Fiorentini, Alumn Class of 2016
Andrea Robinson, Graduate Student
Andrea Slavney, Alumna
Andreia Fenley, PhD student
Anissa Rahadiningtyas, Graduate student
Anita Minniefield, Alumna
Anna McCormick, former graduate student, Dept. of English
Anna Whittemore, Graduate student
Anupreksha Jain, Alumna
Apriele Minott, Cornell Law Student
Ariel Estrella, PhD Student
Arielle Hollies, Arts and Sciences Class of 2019
Arielle Johnson, PhD Student in Plant Biology
Asli Menevse, Graduate Student
Aubrie James, Alumna
Ava R Jarvis, Alumna
Bart Feberwee, Ithaca community member
Benjamin Brack, Alumni
Benjamin Hoffman, alumnus
Bianca Waked, Graduate Student
Brandon Everhart, Graduate Student
Brian Schaefer, PhD student
Bridget Hayes, Graduate student
Brittney Thompson, Alumna
Bruno Seraphin, PhD Candidate
Bryan Gangemi, Alumnus
Caitlin Etri, Alum - Class of 2014 - Biological Sciences Major
Caitlin Witt, Alum
Caitlyn Finton, Grad Student
Carlota, PhD student
Carly Snell, Grad student
Carolyn Strock, alumna
Cathryn Dymond, Alumna, prior employee, current k-12 and college science educator who will no longer be recommending to her students they attend Cornell
Cathy Han, Class of 2017
Chelsea Thomeer, Graduate Student
Chisom Awachie, Alumna
Chris Skawski, Cornell ‘18
Christian Uruburo, Alumni
Christina Fogarasi, Graduate Student
Christopher A. Tarango, PhD. Candidate
Christopher Rooney, Grad student
Cinnamon Mittan, PhD Candidate
Claire Landwehr, Disgusted professional colleague
Claudia Gerecke, Alumna
Conor Bednarski, Student at Cornell Law
D oneill, Mother of employee
Dan Adler, PhD Student
Dan Stoyell, Alumni
Dana Robinson, Alumnus
Dana Trentalange, Student
Daniel Burns, Alumnus, Class of 2013
Daniel Wyleczuk-Stern, Alumnus
Danielle Warren, Alumnus 2014
Danny K Bernstein, Class of 2014
Darrien Lindsay, Graduate student
David Blatter, PhD Student
David Chang van Oordt, Graduate Student
David Gold, PhD Candidate, CEE
Dennis Wegner, PhD Student in German Studies
Dhyaneswaran Palanichamy, Alumna
Diana Obregon, PhD Student
Dietrich Geisler, Student
Dimitra Mourikes, Alum
Doga Yucalan, PhD Candidate
Dr. Jake Turner, Research Associate at Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science
Dylan Cromer, Grad student
Elana Valastro, Alum
Eliana Hernandez-Pachon, Graduate student
ELIF SARI, Graduate Student
Elizabeth Lombardi, Graduate student and teacher
Elizabeth Muller Casparian, Class of 1984
Elizabeth Wolf, Pissed off ally
Elliott Casparian, Alumnus A&S class of 2015
Emily Dautenhahn, Graduate student
Emily Donald, Graduate student
Emily Fischer, PhD ‘19
Emily Mercurio, MFA 2018, former English lecturer (2018-2020)
Emily Schneider, Graduate Student
Emma Silva, Undergraduate Student
Erik Taylor, Graduate student
Erika Glaubitz, Alumna
Eugene Law, Graduate Student
Forrest Davis, Grad Student
Frederik De Keersmaeker, Graduate Student
Gabriella Friedman, PHD student
Gabrielle Kubi, Class of 2020
Geethika Dharmasinghe, PhD in Asian Literature, Religion and Culture
Giulia Andreoni, Graduate student
Grace Phillips, Economics PhD student
Grace Tucker, CALS BS class of 2017
Hae-Song Jung, student
Haley Jordan Chambers, Alumni
Hannah Bidigare-Curtis, Graduate Student
Hannah Thomas, phd candidate
Heather Guetterman, PhD student
Heather Herman, Undergraduate Class of 2016
Helena Hauck de Oliveira, Student
Hillary Holmes, Alumna, Class of 2016
Hina, Alumn
Iian Smythe, PhD, 2017
Irving Torres-Lopez, Alumnus
Jackie Law, Alumnae
Jacob Collard, PhD Candidate
Jaggyr Evangelista , MILR student
James Dunlea, Alumnus (Human Development ‘16)
Jami Nicholson, Alumni (Class of 2017)
Jansen Smith, PhD, Alumnus
Jaron Kent-Dobias, Graduate Student, Physics
Jason Chang, Graduate Student
Jazmin Aguilar-Romero, Alumna
Jeanne McDonald, PhD student
Jeff Pea, Graduate Student
Jeffrey A. Sward, PhD candidate
Jeffrey Mathias, Phd Candidate, STS dept
Jennie Kunitake, Graduate Student
Jennifer K. Hoots, Alumna
Jessica Tingle, Alumna
Jessie Bonney-Burrill, Alumni
Joanna Barrett, Class of 2016
Joelle jach, Alumna, class of 2013
John McMullen, PhD Candidate
Johnnie Kallas, PhD Student
Jonathan Vantman, Alumnus
Jose Zavala, Friend
Joshua Biggs, Graduate Student
Joshua Gancher, Graduate student
Josiah Parker, Past student, employee, and child of two Cornell Professors
Julia Barrett, Ithaca resident
Julia Hellmich, Alum
Kai Mast, PhD Student
Kaitlin Emmanuel, PhD Student
Kara Andres, PhD Candidate
Karen Barnard, Alumni
Karen Dyson, Alumni, Donor
Karin van der Burg, PhD student
Kasey Schalich, PhD Student
Kasturi Mitra, Alumni of Cornell Law School Class of 2020
Kate Donahue, Graduate student
Kate McCormick, Graduate student (incoming)
Katherine Blake, Graduate Student
Katherine Green, 16 Alumna
Katherine Holmes, Graduate student
Katherine Urban-Mead, PhD Candidate, Entomology
Kathleen Gordon, Graduate Student
Kati Peditto, Alum, Postdoc
Kelly Murray, Graduate student
Kevin M. Hines Ph.D., Researcher
Kevin Wilfredo Cruz Amaya, Alumnus
Kieran Koch-Laskowski, DVM-PhD Student
Kierra Grayson, Alumni
Kyle Rothman, employee
Kyle Wheeler, B.S. 2017
Lauren Cooley, Alumna (CALS ‘16)
Lauren Fessler, Alumna and former staff
Leart Ulaj, Alumni
Lee Tyson, Graduate Student
Leigh York, PhD Candidate
Leland Graber, Graduate student
Lester Olivares, PhD student of Geological Sciences
Lilah Rosenfield, Senior, Urban and Regional Studies
Lilly Mendoza, Alumi
Lisa Awaitey, Alumnus
Lisa D. Camp, PhD Student
Lizeth Arzate, Alumni
Loren Lassiter, 3 year veterinary student
Maggie O’Leary, Graduate student
Manuel Berduc, Graduate Student-History
Marcus Reed, Staff
Maria Akopyan, PhD Student (EEB)
Maria Sapar, Recent PhD graduate
Marisa Rae, Community member
Martik Chatterjee, PhD student
Marty Cain, PhD Candidate, English
Mary Blount, Alumni, Class of 2016
Matthew Edwards, Graduate Student
Matthew Fischer-Daly, Graduate student worker
Matthew Picarillo, Hotel Administration ‘14
Matthew Samet, Alumnus
Max Greenberg, Undergraduate student
Maya Martirossyan, Graduate Student
Megan Barkdull, Graduate student
Meghan Cantwell McCormick, Alumna
Meghana Machireddy, Alumna
Merike Andre-Barrett
Michae Suguitan, Graduate student
Michael Earle, Alumnus
Michael Garvey, Alumus
Michael Petassi, Graduate Student
Michaela Barry, Alumna 2017
Michelle Nelson, Alumnus
Mike Saelim, PhD ‘14
Miles Friday, Graduate Student
Millie Dibble, MPA Student ‘21
Mohamed Alsabbagh, Alumnus
Monique Pipkin, Graduate Student
Morgan Evans-Weiler, Grad Student
Myfanwy Adams, PhD Student
Nader Hashweh, Alum
Nathalie Griffiths, A&S Biology and Society ‘20
Natalie Hofmeister, PhD Candidate
Natalie Tong, Graduate Student
Nathan Scinto-Madonich, Graduate Student
Nathan Sitaraman, GRA
Nathaniel Likert, PhD Student
Nathaniel M. Stetson, Cornell Law School 2018
Nazli Konya, Graduate student
Ni-Chen Chang, Grad student
Niamh Short, Undergraduate
Nicholas Pino, Alumnus, 2016
Nicole Barel, Class of 2016
Noeri Kantor
Nolan Amon, Alum, Class of 2016
Nora Brown, Graduate student in Molecular Biology and Genetics
Peter Beaucage, MS ‘15, PhD ‘18 alumnus
Peter Mintun, Class of 2014
Phoebe Koenig, B.S. Alum, present technician, and M.S. student starting fall 2020
Pranav Gupta, Student
Pratiti Deb, Alumni
Rachel Hilliard, 2019 DVM grad
Rachael Skye, PhD Candidate
Rachel Vogel, Graduate student
Racquel Riccardi, Former Employee
Rebecca Harrison, 2014 Alumna, PhD Candidate
Renny John, Student
Robert A. Lopez-Astacio, PhD Candidate
Roque Soto Castaneda, Cornell M.S. Alumnus
Ryan Bouck, Graduate Student
Ryan Doenges, PhD student
Sabrina Li, PhD student
Sabrina Liu, Class of 2020
Sam Bright-Thonney, PhD Student
Samantha Goldman, PhD student
Samantha Gonzalez, Alumna
Santiago Mollis, Graduate student
Sara Scinto-Madonich, Student
Samara Imbeah, Student
Sarah kunz, Partner to PhD student
Sarah Riley, Information Science PhD
Scott Hurwitz, Class of 2020 grad
Sean Sinclair, PhD student
Seo Jung Park, Alum
Sesha Kammula, Alumnus 2019
Seth Strimas-Mackey, PhD Student, Statistics
Seth Thomas, PhD Student
Shaalini Ganesalingam, Alum ‘18
Sharon Gerbode, alum
Silvia Trevino, alum
Simrita Deol, Alumnus, Class of 2017
Snaeha Mathew, Alum
Stepfanie M. Aguillon, PhD Student
Stephanie Cheng, Class of 2015
Stephanie Tepper, Graduate student
Tabea Hoffstaetter, 2015 alumna
Tamar Law, Alumni
Teresa Flanagan, PhD Student
Tessa Devereaux Evans, Graduate Student
Tessy Schlosser, Graduate student
Tetiana-Olena Zavodna, Graduate Student
Thari Zweers, PhD Student
Thea Kozakis, Recent PhD graduate
Thomas Carter, Graduate Student
Tiffany Fotopoulos, Alumni
Tisha Bohr, Current Cornell Postdoctoral Researcher
Tram Nguyen, PhD Candidate
Trey Ramsey, Grad Student, Alumni, Former Staff
Urshila Sriram, PhD ‘19
Valerie Marcano, Alumni
Van Tran, PhD candidate
Vera Khovanskaya, Graduate student
Veronica Freyvert ‘18, Alumna
Victoria Albano, CALS Alumni - Current Vet Student
Victoria Dahl ‘14, Alumnus
Vivian Chen, Alumna
Vlad Niculae, PhD 2018
Walker Grimshaw, Alumnus
Wei Liu, almuni
Winnie Ho, Alumni, Class of 2019
Xinyu Guan, Student
Yagna Nag Chowdhuri, Phd Alumni
Zach Rouse, Graduate Student
Zachary Calbo-Jackson, Class of 2019
Zoe Pollard, Graduate Student
Zoe Weiss, Graduate Student
Name withheld, Class of 2015
Name withheld, Student
Name withheld, Graduate Student
Name withheld, Alumna
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Name withheld, MILR Student
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Name withheld, Arts & Sciences ‘20
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Name withheld, Alumna ‘07
Name withheld, CALS 2012
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Name withheld, PhD Candidate, History of Art
Name withheld, Concerned Ithaca resident
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And 35 others who would like their names and positions withheld for fear of retaliation.
This post originally appeared in the Cornell Daily Sun. If your name is on this list and you would like it removed, please contact me.