Information on Executive Orders
Dear Cornell Community,
We have heard from many of you concerned about how the new executive orders, federal agency directives, and policy announcements may affect your work and your studies, and what impact they will have on our research, teaching, and public engagement missions. Cornell is closely monitoring these rapid developments: Our senior leadership teams across all campuses, the Office of General Counsel, and our federal relations staff in Washington, D.C. are actively working to analyze and assess new guidance coming from the federal government.
This is a quickly evolving and uncertain situation with potentially widespread and serious impact on the university. As during the COVID-19 pandemic, when rapidly changing events affected many parts of our community, Cornell has established a planning team from across the university, which is meeting frequently to share information and guidance. The response planning team is evaluating all changes in federal policy that impact our community, our programs, and our operations. The team includes campus leaders with expertise in federal grants and sponsored research, health care delivery, student financial aid, international programs, and immigration status. This team will make recommendations for actions the university can take to ensure the continuation of our mission-driven work and provide specific guidance to the community.
We are keenly aware of the concerns and confusion caused today by the order to freeze federal expenditures relating to federal grants and other programs. However, this order was subsequently temporarily blocked today by a federal judge. Our best advice is to not interrupt ongoing programs by pausing research or grant spending on existing awards, absent specific instructions from federal agencies. It is vital that we continue this important work in partnership with our federal sponsors, unless otherwise directed.
We are also aware of the significant concerns felt by immigrant and undocumented members of our community. Please know that Cornell remains committed to continuing its support of all members of the university community, and we will comply with university policy and federal law regarding the protection of sensitive personal information.
Today we established a new dedicated central email address that members of our community can use to pose questions and share examples of impacts of these and other new federal policies. Our response planning team will monitor this email account.
We are also launching a new central website, Information on Executive Orders. Beginning this week, this website will be populated with emerging guidance and resources to support our community.
While we recognize that these extraordinary developments are unsettling, we have come together before to address challenges to our community, and we have no doubt that we will work together to ensure the continuity of our missions.
Thank you for continuing to work together to ensure that we maintain our efforts to “do the greatest good.”
Sincerely,
Michael I. Kotlikoff
Interim President
Kavita Bala
Provost
Robert A. Harrington, M.D.
Provost for Medical Affairs, Cornell University