Posted: May 4, 2026

Whereas the Faculty Senate passed a resolution last November concerning the process through which the Student Code of Conduct is being revised by the overwhelming vote of 80 to 16  ( Resolution 209 concerning overuse of temporary suspensions – Office of the Dean of Faculty ). ; 

Whereas the Cornell administration has now recommended revisions of the Student Code of Conduct that do not address the most important concerns that the Faculty Senate and the other Assemblies raised in their respective resolutions; 

Whereas the resolution passed last November by the Faculty Senate demanded that adjudication of the Student Code of Conduct be placed in an authority independent of the central administration and that the Code itself be revised by a democratically elected committee

Whereas the revision of the Code proposed by the central administration recognizes neither of these demands.

Be it resolved that the Student Code of Conduct and Procedures should be revised to ensure fairness and due process in administering the Code, including the restricted application of “temporary suspension” provisions, avoidance of delays, and evenhandedness in enforcement and adjudication; 

Be it further resolved that the current Code and Procedures Review Committee (CPRC) convened by the Vice President of Student and Campus Life to revise the Code should be replaced by a more representative and democratically elected committee; 

Be it further resolved that the faculty, undergraduate student, graduate student, and employee members of the Code and Procedures Review Committee should be elected by the Faculty Senate, the Student Assembly, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, and the Employee Assembly, respectively, and that the University Assembly, the CGSU-UE, and the Office of the Respondents’ Code Counselors should each elect an additional member of the Code and Procedures Review Committee; 

Be it further resolved that any representatives appointed by the central administration and the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards should be ex officio, non-voting advisory members of the CPRC; 

Be it finally resolved that one of the goals of this democratically elected committee should be to place administration of the Student Code of Conduct in the hands of an institutional authority independent of the central administration.

Sponsors

Faculty Senators:

Oumar Ba
Richard Bensel
Anne Marie Elizabeth Brady
Harold Hodes
Andrew Yen

Faculty:

Begum Adalet
David Bateman
Derek Chang
Ileen DeVault
Shimon Edelman
Shannon Gleeson
Dan Hirschman
Saida Hodzic
Joseph Margulies
Paul Nadasdy
Ken Roberts
Nerissa Russell
Lindsay C. Thomas

Retired Faculty:

Kate Bronfenbrenner
Matt Evangelista