A group of Cornell University students are calling on the school to sever ties with China’s Peking University and with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, citing allegations of human rights abuses by both, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
During a meeting of the student assembly on March 25, Cornell student Laila Abd Elmagid, the representative for the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, introduced a resolution calling for the school to uphold ethical guidelines when it comes to partnerships with foreign educational institutions, specifically ones “where academic freedom is in question,” including China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
The resolution noted that a proposal that would involve a partnership with Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management on a dual degree program with Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration was approved by the faculty earlier this month despite objections from some faculty members at a meeting last month.
“Some faculty senators had personal accounts of when they were teaching or some of their students were attending PKU or other universities in the area,” Elmagid told Cornell’s independent student newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun. “They felt like they couldn’t bring up sensitive topics, and were just like walking on eggshells when asked questions that were deemed controversial.”
Those stories gave pause to some assembly members.
“Obviously there were people in the student assembly who weren’t happy with the cooperation with Peking University,” student assembly member Youhan Yuan told the Washington Free Beacon. “There is a risk that Peking University might do something despicable that you do not like. And that would be bad for your ethical standards.”
The resolution, which is non-binding, passed with 18 votes for, 0 votes against and 4 abstentions. Conell president Martha Pollack now has 30 days to issue a response, which would be the first on-the-record statement from the school on the issue.
“Cornell will be tainting its own reputation and names [if they] continue such relationships,” Elmagid added. “Not only that, but continuing to partner with PKU and other institutions in China normalizes and accepts the genocide that is currently ongoing [against the Uyghur Muslims].”
The student assembly also passed resolutions from the Cornell DREAM Team, a group that focuses on supporting illegal immigrant students on campus, for the school to cut its ties with ICE and to establish a “sanctuary campus.”
“Cornell is a home to a community of undocumented students as well as students from mixed status families,” Cornell student Stella Linardi, a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and a member of the DREAM Team, told the Daily Sun. “We assert that Cornell cannot live up to its principles or its motto ‘Any person. Any study.’ while aiding and abetting the U.S. government agencies that oppress, persecute, and deport undocumented community members.”
The resolutions call for Cornell to end its relationship with ICE, as well as ending any possible recruitment actions for companies that work with ICE such as Palantir and Anduril.
“Cornell must ensure that undocumented students, faculty and staff feel safe from detainment and deportation,” said Linardi. “We assert that Cornell University must commit to fostering a safe and nourishing environment for undocumented students by establishing a sanctuary campus.”
Source: Newmax
