Cornell President: Retirement Decision 'Is Mine Alone'

Cornell University President Martha Pollack on Thursday announced her retirement after seven years, adding in a statement the decision was "mine and mine alone."

Her final day will be June 30.

Pollack becomes the third Ivy League president to depart since December, following the resignations of Claudine Gay at Harvard and Liz Magill at the University of Pennsylvania. It also came at a time when college campuses across the nation have been roiled by anti-Israel protests that have led to thousands of arrests.

But Pollack said she decided in December to step down but had to put it off three times because of an "event on our and/or on other campuses."

"I understand that there will be lots of speculation about my decision, so let me be as clear as I can: This decision is mine and mine alone," Pollack wrote in a letter to the Cornell community. "After seven fruitful and gratifying years as Cornell's president – and after a career in research and academia spanning five decades – I'm ready for a new chapter in my life,"

Cornell announced that Provost Michael I. Kotlikoff will serve as interim president beginning July 1 and that Pollack will be given the title of president emerita by the Cornell Board of Trustees.

Gay resigned in January and Magill in December in the aftermath of congressional testimony in which they were harshly criticized for their responses about their institutions' efforts to fight antisemitism. When asked in a House hearing whether calling for the genocide of Jews was against their schools' policies, both answered with "it depends on the context."

Cornell endured its own highly publicized incidents in October, including the arrest of a student who threatened violence against Jewish students. The Department of Education launched an investigation into Cornell in November for antisemitic and anti-Muslim harassment.

"My time as president has also been one of enormous, unexpected challenges for both our country and our community, as we've had to navigate a global pandemic, a national racial reckoning, and a terrorist attack and subsequent war that has reverberated across our country and especially across higher education," Pollack wrote. "The latter has raised a number of critical issues that we are all grappling with, from antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bigotry, to free expression, academic freedom, and how to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.

"I suspect many of these issues are going to be with us for years to come."