Cornell University professor slams Ivy League school for shaking up ‘free speech committee’

A Cornell University professor has criticized the school for creating a “free speech committee,” which he says is full of awake scholars.

Randy Wayne, an associate professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science, fears the new task force will be “hijacked” by the “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy that stifles freedom of expression.”

Cornell’s President Martha Pollack recently announced that the theme of the 2023-24 academic year will be focused on freedom of speech and she has created the Free Speech Steering Committee to that end.

Wayne said he was initially excited about the news, but his enthusiasm evaporated when he read the names of the committee members “none of whom have advocated free speech at Cornell.”

Write in an opinion piece for the campus news site The solutionsaid the professor that since the 2021 murder of George Floyd, Pollack has been promoting the “illiberal DEI philosophy at Cornell,” having previously defended staff against cancellation culture.

Cornell President Martha Pollack pictured with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

Costing more than $80,000 a year, Cornell is one of the top Ivy League schools, including Harvard and Yale, that offer DEI education.

The colleges believe students should be educated on how to avoid being racist or biased — even in ways they may not realize, known as “unconscious bias.”

Marxist ideology is not just confined to campuses, but is now well known by employees from Wall Street to Walmart whose bosses need the “inclusion” courses.

High school kids are even put under pressure. In a Manhattan prep, which costs $54,000 a year, staff demanded the school hire a full-time employee whose “entire job is to support black students who come forward with complaints.”

Wayne flogged several members of Cornell’s new committee, whom he said were beholden to the ubiquitous vigil ideology.

He mentioned member GS Hans, a law professor whose faculty biography says his research has a “particular focus on social justice and diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Then there’s Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina, another committee member, who Wayne said was “an impediment” to the restoration of a Lincoln bust in the school library that was removed last year following a complaint.

He said member Eve De Rosa, the dean of the faculty who said she is interested in bringing “more diversity” to the school, ignored all his emails “to question the harmful effects of mandatory critical race theory.” .

Wayne said he wrote to each committee member on April 19 asking for copies of their published work on freedom of expression. It’s almost mid-May. None of them have responded,” he said.

In a tantalizing conclusion, the biology professor said: “In 2017, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni awarded President Pollack the Heroes of Intellectual Freedom Award for being an outspoken advocate of free speech and for urging faculties to take more intellectual risks. and not to worry about reprimand.

However, things have changed since the murder of George Floyd and Pollack has promoted the illiberal DEI philosophy at Cornell.

“The American Council for Trustees has pointed out that the university is struggling to protect freedom of speech and intellectual diversity on campus, ranking it 154th out of 203 colleges in FIRE’s College Free Speech Rankings.”

Founded in 1865, Cornell University is located in Ithaca, New York, on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region. The school has an annual budget of $5 billion

Cornell has been contacted for comment.

It comes after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Cornell offered an online DEI certificate that costs $3,699.

It includes courses on ‘combating unconscious bias’ and ‘promoting an inclusive climate’.

The material states, “Despite decades of legal and social reforms aimed at reducing discrimination in the workplace, inequality remains a major problem in all societies and in most workplaces.”