Thrones are empty for a reason
On the eve of No Kings Day, we update you on the latest developments in Cornell’s campus authoritarianism. More to the point, we highlight action steps to join the resistance (if you’re one of those people who can’t see yourself becoming the subject of a king, on campus or otherwise). Sneak peek: Sign the student petition referendum for a democratic code of conduct, sign the No Loyalty Oaths petition for US universities, and show up for No Kings Day tomorrow!
Cornell program trains students to greenwash fracking
We call out a Cornell Dyson School project that trains students to lead the fossil-fuel industry’s climate denial. Project PulsePoint: Promoting Transparency & Sustainability, USA aims to “[d]evelop a public relations program to strengthen stakeholder engagement and trust for Repsol’s operations in the Marcellus Shale.” Why is Cornell educating students to greenwash the life-threatening fracking industry?
Cornell has a gas problem
Newsletter #21 gives the scoop on what’s happened since our Decarbonization Report provoked an op-ed from President Kotlikoff and a flurry of public presentations from Cornell. There are positive signs that Ithaca will hold the line on their fossil-fuel phaseout law by requiring compliance from Cornell — but larger forces indicate that Cornell won’t solve their gas problem without bottom-up pressure. Read on to help us do so.
Your rights are subject to police discretion
The day after Banksy’s protest art was scrubbed from London’s Royal Courts of Justice, we received Cornell’s official answer as to why Cornell Police shut down our graduation protests on May 24: According to CUPD, punishments are issued at the “discretion” of police, unburdened by reference to policy and unconstrained by rights to free speech. We disclose our institutional correspondence with CUPD and offer conclusions about Cornell’s revealed free speech policy.
A great university, about to self-destruct
Cornell on Fire Newsletter #20 welcomes you back to campus with two questions. (1) Besieged and ransomed by fascists, will Cornell restore its original mission or betray it? We lay out the possibilities for positive transformation. (2) Will you help TAKE BACK THE UNIVERSITY? Join campus groups for a rally this Thursday, 8/28 from 12-1pm on Ho Plaza with march to Day Hall! This is the best possible time to resist fascism. In the absence of resistance, it’s all downhill from here.
Foes in the Right Places
Our Newsletter #19 issue updates from a hot July, inspired by legal cases posing the question: Will Cornell side with climate activists or climate criminals? Unfortunately, they’re currently criminalizing the activists and lionizing the criminals. But it’s not too late for Cornell to side with Youth and the International Court of Justice to protect their students’ human rights to a livable planet.
Free Expression Unwelcome Here!
As freedom of expression narrows on all sides, one would hope that Cornell would stand up for public freedoms. If only this were so. Instead, the Cornell administration seeks to distance itself from the "woke" university stereotype by repressing legitimate protest and undermining their own institution's "indispensable condition" - freedom of expression. The stakes keep growing while those in power suppress dissent under the usual fascist pretense of a “national emergency” while ignoring the real climate emergency.
Expressive Activity: Theory vs Practice
On Graduation Day, Cornell authorities quashed our climate protests and catapulted them into front-page news that catalyzed solidarity across the movement. Help us subvert their attempt to silence our message by amplifying it!
CoF Post 5/12: Nonviolent direct evidence
Thanks to all who joined our public lecture that took to the streets on May 2! “How to Disrupt Fossil-Fuel Business-as-Usual” was a rousing success. Here, we explain the research findings that inspired our experimental event to ignite direct participation in climate action and invite you to further inform the results.
Newsletter #16: Doggedly Sustaining the Status Quo
April was “Sustainability Month” at Cornell, and it was frankly unbelievable. We provide a roundup of Cornell’s real, unexaggerated accomplishments over the course of the month. It was a raging success in sustaining the status quo. The only way forward is for ordinary folks to begin cordially disrupting fossil fuel business-as-usual. Join us at 11:15am this Friday, May 2 to begin studying our options at an unusual public lecture with Kevin Young and Bill McKibben. Not to be missed!
CoF Post 4/22: An unusual development
After months of advocating for Cornell to provide relevant education, we’re taking action to help them do so: Join us on Friday, May 2, for an unusual public lecture on “HOW TO DISRUPT FOSSIL-FUEL BUSINESS-AS-USUAL” with Kevin Young and Bill McKibben.
CoF Post 4/11: Notes from the above-ground
If the Cornell administration thinks it’s hard to do research on a $1-billion funding cut, they should try doing research on a dead planet. American democracy (such as it is) is imperiled. As we fight back, let’s keep the long view and tend to what matters: life on earth. In that spirit, we share notes and invite you to join our latest efforts to raise the cost of the status quo for those who would pursue climate business as usual.
CoF Post 3/24: Institutional Voice, meet Activist Voice
An exclusive news briefing to the Cornell on Fire movement relaying the unexpected events of March 2025. ACTIVISTS TAKE OVER CORNELL’S CLIMATE MESSAGING - CORNELL LAUNCHES TASK FORCE TO INVESTIGATE WHO HAS “INSTITUTIONAL VOICE” - ACTIVISTS TELL TRUSTEES: “OUR CORNELL!”
Newsletter #15: Cornell Declares a Climate Emergency
The extended Cornell Community received a stunning announcement today: Cornell has Declared a Climate Emergency and launched the Office of Climate Science and Activism to oversee 30 bold initiatives for climate action. The official pronouncement from the new Office landed on March 7, also declared national Stand Up For Science Day. Read on!
Newsletter #14: Announcing the Cornell on Fire Faculty Fellows
We have good news to announce in spite of world events. True, the news for our campus community has been grim. But if the attack on science and the academy’s values inspires you to act like never before, then you are not alone. We are thrilled to announce the Cornell on Fire Faculty Fellows program. Read how these Fellows are mobilizing academia to confront the climate crisis, starting right here at home.
CoF Post 2/13: A true story – decarbonization at a crossroads
Cornell’s decarbonization is at a crossroads. Much has transpired since we shared the white paper on Cornell’s decarbonization pathways with you on December 30. Here, we share highlights of recent developments and how the drama has caused us to reflect upon larger questions.
Newsletter #13: Who belongs on the climate front lines?
Lots of us are scared right now. Will we be punished for speaking truth to power, protesting, pushing back against injustice? Read this call to action from a professor, a student, and an administrator, united on the need for action. People often overestimate the risks of speaking up—that’s one of the ways we get misled into compliance and inaction. The truth is that collectively, we can distribute risk and apply positive pressure that transforms institutions.
CoF Post 1/20: An MLK Reflection
We observe Martin Luther King Day with a reflection on his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," penned in 1963 and precisely relevant today. King’s recognition that "we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality” made him "radical" in his day. That same recognition should make us all "radicals" today.
To be alive on earth today is to be an activist…or a moderate. Please be an activist.
Newsletter #12: Good Tidings of Decarbonization
Two of Cornell’s governing bodies weighed in on Cornell’s State of Sustainability this month, and their conclusions could not have been more divergent. As the administration doubled down on their well-intentioned incrementalism, the Student Assembly had enough: they advanced a resolution to dramatically expand and accelerate Cornell’s Climate Action Plan. We bring good tidings: the students are right, and a new white paper on Cornell’s Heating Decarbonization pathways underscores the strength of their case.
Post 12/6: AD White weighs in on the expressive policy
Andrew Dickson White has weighed in on the Cornell Committee on Expressive Activity Draft Report Policy. Although hardly known as a man of principle (he was zealously involved in Indigenous dispossession), even he is perturbed by the administration’s silence and silencing in the face of an existential crisis. It is remarkable for one so long dead to send a message, but send a message he does: “The science is clear. Don’t look away. Don’t muzzle protesters. Declare a Climate Emergency.”