Presidential Task Force on Institutional Voice

In March 2025, President Kotlikoff and Provost Bala established a task force to examine the university’s approach to speaking institutionally regarding matters of politics, ideology, current affairs, and world events. Cornell leadership accepted the task force’s final recommendations (PDF), issued in February 2026, committing to apply principles of institutional restraint when considering whether the university should speak publicly on matters of social and political significance.

As recommended by the task force, university leaders will comment on the institution’s behalf only when necessary to directly preserve and enhance Cornell’s core mission, values, and functions or when germane to the mission of higher education broadly. By limiting institutional voice to these matters, Cornell respects and protects the individual voices of faculty, staff, and students as they exercise their freedom to speak. The recommendations specify that only the Board of Trustees, President, and Provost – or their designees – are permitted to speak for the institution. Individuals or groups of community members can speak collectively, but should be clear they are not speaking on the university’s behalf.

The recommendations reflect extensive universitywide input from campus stakeholders and shared governance groups and consultation with external experts.

The charge of this task force was to examine the issues and questions below:

  1. Examine how the mission of the university as an academic enterprise does or not influence whether and when the institution exercises its voice.
  2. Discuss the implications of the university speaking institutionally regarding a range of matters — and how that institutional voice impacts the individual voices of Cornell’s community members.
  3. Make recommendations regarding the principles and best practices that should guide university decisions about when to speak publicly, and regarding what matters.
  4. Make recommendations regarding procedures or best practices for who and how such statements should be made at the leadership level.
  5. Discuss the process for exercising institutional voice at levels below university leadership, e.g. at the level of colleges, departments, centers, academic sub-units, and other faculty, staff, or student groups. Make recommendations regarding how members of our community should guide these collective decisions.
University Statement Cornell Chronicle coverage

Task Force Members

  • Avery August (co-chair), deputy provost and professor of immunology in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Jens Ohlin (co-chair), the Allan R. Tessler Dean of Cornell Law School
  • Milton Curry, professor of architecture and senior associate dean for strategic initiatives and engagement, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
  • Kate Griffith, the Jean McKelvey-Alice Grant Professor of Labor-Management Relations and senior associate dean for academic affairs, diversity, and faculty development, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations
  • Lee Humphreys, professor and chair, Department of Communication, Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
  • Lori Khatchadourian, associate professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences
  • Sarah Kreps, the John L. Wetherill Professor in the Department of Government, adjunct professor of law, and Director of the Cornell Brooks School Tech Policy Institute
  • Taha Merghoub, the Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor of Oncology Research and Deputy Director of the Meyer Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine
  • Mert Sabuncu, professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell Duffield College of Engineering, and professor, Cornell Tech

Reference Documents

The following reports and statements provide examples of approaches and positions on institutional voice developed by other institutions and organizations.