Board of Trustees:

The current federal administration’s funding cuts pose an unprecedented threat to scientific research and the infrastructure of higher education. As stated clearly in the recent email from Cornell Leadership, “if the research capabilities of America’s universities are destabilized and undermined in this way, no institutions will be capable of filling the void of discovery and innovation as a public good.” We agree completely that this proposed removal of funding constitutes an existential crisis to research and teaching. The standards of excellence in research and teaching at Cornell are at risk, as are the livelihoods of the workers who maintain them. 

During this moment of crisis, Cornell has the opportunity to play a defining role in protecting education and science against our current administration. We need it to rise to the occasion. If federal cuts to research funding proceed, we call on Cornell’s administration to draw on its considerable financial resources, including but not limited to its $10.7 billion endowment, to ensure that research and teaching continue uninterrupted. 

We came to Cornell for its dedication to its mission to “discover, preserve and disseminate knowledge” and arrived committed to advancing human knowledge and higher education with our work. Cornell’s administration can honor the academic mission of this institution and the people who do this work by committing to offset any losses incurred due to federal funding cuts. Now is the moment for Cornell’s administration to embrace its responsibility as a leader in research and education.

Cornell’s considerable financial resources are vital to maintaining the University now and far into the future. Expert stewardship of Cornell’s assets and investments has protected Cornell’s financial health during troubling times, and, in recent years, ensured unprecedented returns. Cornell’s financial health must be maintained, and the value of the endowment must continue to grow--but, crucially, not for the sake of growth alone, but for the sake of, in Ezra Cornell’s words, “the greatest good.” Cornell’s administration has reminded the University community of the endowment’s purpose time and again: it is a “perpetual and self-sustaining source of support for the University and its mission,” designed to protect and advance the University’s workings always, and especially during times of trouble. We recognize these parameters. Should the federal government succeed in its objective, the devastation to research, science, and the University will be vast. Cornell’s administration must step up as a leader in the fight to protect higher education and scientific progress. 

We understand the endowment is a complex amalgam of over 8,000 accounts, many of which are protected by donor restrictions, but many of which are not. Indeed, according to Cornell’s own most recent audit, there are considerable unrestricted funds that can be drawn on in times of need. This is one of those times. While the University’s financial resources are not a cash reserve or emergency fund to be deployed frivolously, the purpose of the endowment is to be able to help in exactly these moments of financial need that threaten the mission of the institution. If the proposed cuts go through and the University does not step in, the damage to the research infrastructure would be catastrophic.  

Allocating a small share of Cornell's unrestricted assets now to cover losses due to federal funding cuts would be a deployment of the University’s financial resources in service of “the greatest good” and Cornell’s guiding mission. It would not weaken the future of the University for short-sighted immediate relief, but would instead be a bold, brave, and critically necessary resolution to ensure our University survives into the future with its research infrastructure and reputation intact. The heart and soul of American academia is at stake. Committing these funds is the most responsible choice for the long term health of the institution. We ask that Cornell commit to offsetting any losses incurred due to federal funding cuts so that research and teaching can continue uninterrupted and Cornell will be able to realize its mission today and into the future.

CGSU-UE Bargaining Committee