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Many alumni and others are very disappointed and upset that Cornell University entered into this Agreement. The purpose of this Memorandum is to identify our major concerns without in any way detracting from our position that the entire Agreement represents a danger to Cornell’s independence and academic freedom, is a setback to Cornell’s pursuit of diversity and exposes the University to future unreasonable demands from the federal government.
Par. 6 requires Cornell explicitly to comply with the Attorney General’s Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination, dated July 29, 2025 (“Guidance”). This Guidance does not have any legal status because it is neither an Act of Congress nor a properly issued regulation. Further the Guidance contains many assertions that go far beyond what the law currently requires. For example, the Guidance basically concludes that all DEI programs and policies are illegal, which is a dubious statement unsupported by law or caselaw. Even the Supreme Court’s recent decision invalidating Harvard and UNC’s admissions criteria recognized the validity of narrow-based measures to promote equality and diversity. By agreeing to comply with the Guidance, Cornell is inviting a Trojan Horse onto its campus that will encourage the federal Government to bring new baseless investigations and discrimination charges against Cornell, cause it to waste valuable resources defending itself, result in discrimination against LBGQT students and may result in further penalties from the federal government.
2. Par. 9 requires Cornell to submit quarterly anonymous admission data broken down by race, grade point average and SAT or similar test scores. The information will be subject to Government audit. The relevance of this information, except race, is unclear and the prospect for future investigations based on the audit provision is real particularly now that the Administration officially frowns on any racial preferences.
3. Par 13 provides that Cornell must invest the sum of $30M in certain programs purportedly benefitting farmers, including but not limited to “Digital Agriculture and Future Farming Technologies”. Was Cornell already planning to make this investment in the next four years? If not, this will result in a $30M dent in the world-renowned School of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ existing and future budget for no reason other than payment of a penalty for alleged but unproven violations by Cornell.
4. Par. 15 requires Cornell to conduct annual surveys of the Cornell “climate”, an undefined term, and particularly mentions anti-semitism. It’s not clear if this type of survey has ever been required of a college or university, but the devil is in the details of how this survey will be designed and conducted and how its results will be used to potentially penalize Cornell or subject it to damaging publicity.
5. Pars. 16 and 17 require Cornell to comply with several specific laws, e.g. foreign gifts laws and sanctions enforcement, anti-money laundering and prevention of terrorist funding, none of which are referenced in the description of the alleged violations that are the subject of the Agreement. Because Cornell must comply with all applicable laws, the reference to these specific laws will give the Cornell community and the public the incorrect impression that this Agreement also covers such alleged violations.
6. Par. 19 provides that the EEOC can continue investigations that are pending as of the effective date, which appears to conflict with paragraph 7 that provides that all such investigations will be dismissed as part of the Agreement.
7. Par. 23 provides that no other party can seek relief related to the Agreement, which seems intended to prevent important stakeholders such as alumni, Cornell unions, professors and students from challenging the Agreement. However, because those stakeholders are not signatory parties to the Agreement, this provision is a nullity.
Dated: November 11, 2025
Note: This Memorandum may be revised from time by Cornell Courage