Letter Demanding Accountability from Cornell University for Systemic, Intentional, and Unlawful Discrimination

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The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) Litigation team sent a letter to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) to demand accountability from Cornell University for systemic, intentional, and unlawful discrimination that violates federal civil rights laws and accreditation standards. Despite Cornell’s public claims of merit-driven decision-making, the evidence demonstrates that the university has embraced and normalized policies that elevate race, sex, and other immutable traits above merit in hiring, retention, and advancement.

The letter documents how Cornell employs official tools—such as the “Toward New Destinations” rubric, the “Faculty Pipeline Tool,” and the Diversity Dashboard—to pressure departments into identity-based hiring. Internal communications confirm that administrators bypassed fair, merit-based evaluations by prescreening applicants on the basis of identity, excluding as many as 98% of otherwise qualified candidates. At Weill Cornell Medical School, the university went further, creating a program that awarded $50,000 financial bonuses for faculty hires based on race and ethnicity.

AFPI concluded that these practices not only violate Title VI, Title VII, and Title IX but also breach MSCHE’s Standards on Ethics, Integrity, and Governance, which require impartiality, honesty, and compliance with the law. Cornell’s leadership, including President Michael Kotlikoff, played a direct role in implementing these discriminatory schemes while simultaneously making misleading public statements about merit-based practices.

By sending this letter, we seek to:

• Expose Cornell’s systemic discrimination and double standards.
• Compel MSCHE to enforce its accreditation standards and investigate.
• Protect students, faculty, and staff from an environment hostile to merit and free expression.
• Reaffirm that higher education must be governed by fairness, integrity, and the rule of law.

In short, AFPI sent this letter to safeguard equal opportunity, defend academic integrity, and affirm that America’s universities must once again stand for merit, truth, and the timeless principles that make this nation strong.