By Alana Mastrangelo | BREITBART NEWS
A major Cornell donor says he will no longer donate to the university if it continues to implement diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The donor is also calling for the resignation of the school’s president over her “shameful recent response to clear acts of terrorism and antisemitism.”
“As a proud Cornell alumnus, donor, Member of the Board of Trustees (Emeritus), and Counselor to the President, it is my opinion that Cornell must abandon its misguided commitment to DEI because it has yielded not excellence but disgrace,” Jon A. Lindseth wrote in an open letter to Chairman Kraig Kayser and the Board of Trustees.
“I am proud to count myself one of several generations of Lindseths who are Cornell alumni and invested donors, but I am alarmed by the diminished quality of education offered lately by my alma mater because of its disastrous involvement with DEI policies that have infiltrated every part of the university,” he added.
Lindseth went on to say that he has “spent years hearing the stories of Cornell and its leadership, participating as a student, and sponsoring and funding some of the University’s exemplary past work including the Library (which I continue to fund).”
“I can no longer make general contributions until the university reformulates its approach to education by replacing DEI groupthink with the original noble intent of Cornell,” he added.
Lindseth, who has been one of Cornell’s largest, most prominent donors for several decades, called out the school’s president, Martha E. Pollack, over her response to the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel.
“President Pollack’s shameful recent response to clear acts of terrorism and antisemitism compared with her swift and strong response to the George Floyd tragedy demonstrates that Cornell is no longer concerned with discovering and disseminating knowledge, but rather with adhering to DEI groupthink policies and racialization,” he wrote.
“Today the instruction Cornell offers is in DEI groupthink applied to every field of study,” Lindseth added.
“The result is a moral decay, some call it ‘rot,’ that falls in line with prevailing ideology and dishonors basic principles of justice and free speech.” ##