Cornell University faculty to begin debating no-confidence resolution

Approximately 150 faculty members are said to be in support of the resolution.

Cornell University’s faculty senate on Wednesday will begin deliberating a no-confidence resolution to condemn the school’s response to sexual violence on campus.

“We're saying we have no confidence in how the administration has handled this. It is a crisis. It's a long-term systemic problem. Jane Doe's case is significant, but it is not nearly the only case like this,” Iris Packman, a faculty senator, told ABC News.

Cornell University’s president and provost are scheduled to address the faculty senate and take questions before the debate begins, and the formal vote on the resolution is set to take place later this month.

“The key point to understand is that scores of students, staff, faculty and alumni have approached the sponsors of the resolution to emphasize to us that the Jane Doe case is but the tip of the iceberg,” Professor Paul Ortiz, the lead sponsor for the resolution, told ABC News via email.

Cornell’s faculty senate is a “governing body that supports faculty communication toward successful management of objectives for the University,” according to the school. Academic titleholders at Cornell -- including professors, senior lecturers, librarians, archivists and others -- are eligible to be senators, who serve three-year terms.

The resolution itself does not call for specific action -- such as demanding resignations or forcing policy changes -- and instead offers a broad condemnation of the school’s response.

Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff and Provost Kavita Bala are scheduled to deliver remarks and answer questions before members of the school’s Sexual Assault Task Force address the group. Cornell’s director of sexual harassment and assault response is also set to address the senators before taking questions. The final 30 minutes of the 90-minute meeting is scheduled to begin debate of the resolution.

Cornell’s dean of faculty is also set to address the body to read an “expressive activity statement.” Past faculty senate meetings have not begun with that kind of statement, according to Professor Lieberwitz, and the purpose and content of those remarks are not clear.

Cornell finalized its “expressive activity policy” last year in the aftermath of campus protests. It allows the school to restrict speech if it “disrupts essential operations necessary for the teaching, research, patient care, or residential campus missions of the university.”

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