To be clear, we condemn this deal. At the same time, we are also relieved that some of the worst provisions of the deals from Brown, Columbia, and Penn are absent.

Note: Cornell has *not* agreed to adopt the DOJ Guidance as policy, only as a "training resource." What that means remains to be seen. The Justice Department seems to think it means a lot, but President Kotlikoff explicitly rejected this interpretation today. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...

The Cornell Chapter of the AAUP will continue fighting to protect academic freedom and shared governance as Cornell moves from negotiating to implementing this dangerous agreement.

President Kotlikoff has assured us that this agreement means that the federal government cannot renew its illegal assault on Cornell’s independence. The promise to not break the law next time would be more reassuring if the federal government had not broken the law this time.

We are also concerned about how the agreement sets the stage for further intrusion by the Trump administration by voluntarily handing over data on admissions, and by mandating an annual climate survey which embeds the false conflation of criticism of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism.

Critically, President Kotlikoff clarified in today’s town hall meeting that this guidance is not law and committed that it will not form the basis of Cornell policy unless it becomes law. Nonetheless, using the guidance in any capacity sells out people of color and trans members of our community.

We are especially concerned about the invocation of a recent DOJ memo as a "training resource" for faculty on issues of bias and discrimination. This “Guidance” is a memorandum that restates the Trump administration’s anti-trans and anti-diversity positions – none of which are enforceable as law.

We are heartened to see that Cornell University’s deal omits many of the worst provisions present in deals made by other universities. The opposition of faculty, students, and engaged members of the Cornell community gave Cornell’s leadership the courage of our convictions.

We are working on a statement in response to the announced agreement.

But I am really struck by the rapidity and scale of the government's retreat from its much more extensive and destructive list of demands that it tried to impose on schools at the start of this mess.

It would be far better if Cornell and other schools simply said "no."

But still, a notable shift.

There are bad things here, including the transparently bad-faith mess about reporting students races + SAT/ACT scores to the government so they can falsely accuse Cornell in the future of illegal race-based affirmative action (a move that imperils perfectly legal class-based affirmative action).

But basically this agreement reads to me like one where the administration recognizes they are losing and are desperate to sign any deal to notch a win.

Many of the most dangerous elements from the Columbia and Brown deals (and the proposed deals with Harvard and UCLA) are missing from this one.

On the other hand, Cornell agrees to what looks to me like $30 million in funding for futuristic agricultural stuff to benefit farmers (i.e. what Cornell already does), plus $30 million in actual $ paid to the feds.

UVA paid $0, so in that respect this agreement exacted a larger ounce of flesh.

The problem wasn't that universities were indifferent to antisemitism, but that they allowed trustees, advocacy groups, demagogues, etc to pressure them into treating as "antisemitism" all kinds of political expression and advocacy that was entirely legitimate.