Support is pouring in from major donors who are calling for Cornell's president to step down from DEI

Calls for Cornell to end its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are growing, and a major donor is also calling for the school's president to resign.

Cornell's top donor and trustee emeritus, Jon A. Lindseth, wrote a scathing letter to the school's board, calling for the president's removal, he said. Fox News.

“Replace the president and provost,” he told the board of trustees in the letter.

“Eliminate DEI staff and programming. Return to open inquiry, academic freedom, free expression and diversity of viewpoints on campus,” Lindseth bluntly told the board.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

Fox News Digital has learned that as of Thursday, the letter was mailed to each trustee and will likely be fresh in their minds as they head to an emergency board meeting on Friday, a source familiar with the situation at Fox News Digital. Administrators' calendar shows they plan to hold a meeting Friday in New York City,” Fox News reported.

Cornell President Martha Pollack's future is in doubt as Lindseth calls for her resignation. He has garnered substantial support backing his lawsuit and wants him to resign as part of the agenda for the meeting on Friday.

“The letter was also sent directly to trustees chairman Kraig Kayser, who is reportedly having discussions about it but has not responded to Lindseth, the source said,” Fox News wrote.

“For nearly seven years, I have strongly supported President Pollack, and that support remains strong today,” Kayser said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday. “The board is working effectively with the administration to respond to the diverse challenges facing higher education and opportunities to advance the university's mission.”

NEW: @Cornell Board member (emeritus), advisor to the president, alumnus and donor Jon A. Lindseth calls on President Pollack and Provost Kotlikoff to resign and makes a series of recommendations, including eliminating the DEI at the university: pic.twitter.com/d2PWZIQ7Qo

— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) January 23, 2024

Lindseth is “alarmed” by the school's adoption of DEI initiatives in all academic areas. He claimed that Cornell is “hiring faculty based on race rather than academic merit” and pointed to a “lack of support for faculty who choose to exercise free speech and academic freedom.”

“I am proud to count myself as one of several generations of Lindseths who are Cornell alumni and invested donors, but I am alarmed by the recent decline in the quality of education my alma mater provides because of its disastrous involvement with DEI policies that have infiltrated every part of the university,” he said in the fiery letter.

“Today, the instruction offered by Cornell is in DEI groupthink applied to all fields of study. The result is a moral decay, some call it 'rot,' which conforms to the prevailing ideology and dishonors the principles basic principles of justice and freedom of expression,” Lindseth charged.

He has stopped giving to the school “until the university reformulates its approach to education by replacing DEI's groupthink.”

“The source told Fox News Digital that since the letter was sent, and subsequently reported by numerous media outlets, Lindseth has received an outpouring of support. Students, teachers and parents have reached out to him. to thank him for sounding the alarm on DEI's initiatives to the board, adding that they didn't feel their concerns were being heard until he stepped in,” Fox News noted.

Cornell alum Jon Lindseth on college funding for 'toxic' DEI culture: 'People who go to grad school know that if they don't have the right point of view, they won't will get a degree.”@FoxBusiness @BrianBrenberg @JackieDeAngelis @RiggsReport pic.twitter.com/JPMUbMYsBl

— The Big Money Show (@TheBigMoneyShow) January 25, 2024

Lindseth is concerned about the “toxic” environment that has set in at the school.

“A new campus 'bias reporting system' fosters a hostile Orwellian environment among neighbors, classmates and colleagues who report on each other. The elimination of grades and SATs has created a system in which the 'goal has become equality of outcomes rather than demonstrated merit. This is disastrous for a research university that is based on academic performance and aims to educate and train some of the world's leading scientists, architects and engineers our country,” he said.

Lindseth has a big problem with Pollack's biased leadership in the wake of George Floyd's death in 2020 compared to his lackluster response to the horrific attacks in Israel last October.

“President Pollack's recent shameful response to clear acts of terrorism and anti-Semitism compared to his swift and forceful response to the George Floyd tragedy shows that Cornell is no longer concerned with discovering and disseminating knowledge, but with adhering to DEI groupthink policies and racialization.” he stated in his letter.

Kudos to Jon A. Lindseth, Cornell's major donor, said in a letter to its president and board of trustees: “I can no longer make general contributions until the university reframes its approach to education by replacing DEI groupthink for Cornell's original noble intention.” BOOM! FAFO!

—Patrick Hanrahan (@Hanrahan1949) January 25, 2024

Cornell Free Speech Alliance supports Lindseth's position. It is a group of alumni, faculty and students who support First Amendment freedoms on campus, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Lindseth's letter was first published by the Ivy Excellence Initiative, a new effort launched by the nonprofit education network Common Sense Society. The Ivy Excellence Initiative launched last week and works to bringing together “alumni groups, dissident faculty and frustrated donors to hold their universities accountable for pursuing true academic excellence and open research,” according to their press release, Fox News. reported

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is a constitutional conservative who researches and writes extensively on politics and current affairs.

Latest messages from Terresa Monroe-Hamilton (see everything)

We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.