Demand President Kotlikoff Make Cornell a Sanctuary Campus!

Cornell University, President Michael Kotlikoff, Dean Marla Love

banner that says "make cornell a sanctuary campus to make campus safer for international, queer, and all minority students"

In the past year, the Trump administration has made the United States increasingly unsafe for many minority groups. Anti-Trans executive orders have affirmed the ways that many people discriminate against trans people. ICE has made it harder for immigrants and even American-born citizens to live their lives. Deals with universities have stripped them of their academic freedom and forced them to fall in line with the President’s views on education. In response to this fascistic administration, instead of communicating their support for the many diverse students on Cornell campus, Cornell’s administration has given $60M to Trump, agreed to train staff on Trump’s harmful rhetoric, and allowed ICE recruiters to stay on their hiring systems. They have not created a single school-wide email communicating their support for minority students groups and have refused to broadly advertise the many resources available for groups such as queer and trans students.

Demands:


  1. No ICE on Campus

    1. Establish a clear protocol in the event that ICE shows up on campus without a judicial warrant. This plan must include means to protect students at risk of arrest or deportation.

    2. Ban student information sharing with ICE under ANY circumstances without a judicial warrant.

    3. Establish and maintain an ICE Hotline for students on campus.

    4. Prohibit all ICE, DHS, and CBP job postings and events on Cornell Career Services and Handshake.

  2. University Pledges to An End to Institutional Neutrality

    1. Pledge to maintain accessible resources for queer and trans students on campus.

    2. Publicly denounce ICE and commit to following the established protocol mentioned above.

    3. Commit to defending the rights of marginalized minority students in the face of institutional backlash.

  3. Commit to Providing Educational Resources to Students and Professors

  1. Distribute Know Your Rights Cards and ICE protocol in all Cornell Residential halls.

  2. Regularly run Know Your Rights trainings for international and immigrant students.

  3. Run consistent information sessions about campus resources for queer students.

  4. Host professional trainings on queer allyship for professors and students.

Making Cornell a sanctuary campus is an essential first step in ensuring that Cornell can stick to its motto and persist through unprecedented struggles.

To: Cornell University, President Michael Kotlikoff, Dean Marla Love
From: [Your Name]

In the wake of the Trump administration’s deal with Cornell, the motto “any person, any study” is starting to lose its meaning. Cornell is a school that welcomes students from all around the world, but without protections against ICE, many of these students have the risk of their educational experiences being cut short. If Cornell makes a commitment to become a sanctuary campus, many of these groups within the student body will feel safer. The Cornell community needs your open and unwavering support to know that the school is willing to stick by its foundational motto.

Demands:

1. No ICE on Campus

a.Establish a clear protocol in the event that ICE shows up on campus without a judicial warrant. This plan must include means to protect students at risk of arrest or deportation.

b.Ban student information sharing with ICE under ANY circumstances without a judicial warrant.

c.Establish and maintain an ICE Hotline for students on campus.

d. Prohibit all ICE, DHS, and CBP job postings and events on Cornell Career Services and Handshake.

2.University Pledges to An End to Institutional Neutrality

a. Pledge to maintain accessible resources for queer and trans students on campus.

b. Publicly denounce ICE and commit to following the established protocol mentioned above.

c. Commit to defending the rights of marginalized minority students in the face of institutional backlash.

3. Commit to Providing Educational Resources to Students and Professors

a. Distribute Know Your Rights Cards and ICE protocol in all Cornell Residential halls.

b. Regularly run Know Your Rights trainings for international and immigrant students.

c. Run consistent information sessions about campus resources for queer students.

d. Host professional trainings on queer allyship for professors and students.

Making Cornell a sanctuary campus is an essential first step in ensuring that Cornell can stick to its motto and persist through unprecedented struggles.