Ivy League loses another college president as Martha Pollack signals exit from Cornell

Cornell University President Martha Pollack will step down June 30 after seven years in the role, heading off conjecture about her departure amid campus protest turmoil by insisting the move was hers.

“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,” she said in a Thursday statement. “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.”

Ms. Pollack, 65, may well be leaving on her own terms, but her retirement comes with Ivy League presidents turning over quickly as the protest temperature soars at elite institutions.

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok resigned on Dec. 9 as she faced pressure to step down following a disastrous House committee hearing on campus antisemitism.

A month later, Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned amid an uproar over allegations of plagiarism as well as her handling of anti-Jewish sentiment and pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Ms. Pollack had come under fire from pro-Palestinian students and faculty after police arrested 24 student and employee protesters in March on trespassing charges for occupying Day Hall.

Two weeks ago, four students were suspended for refusing to remove the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the Arts Quad, prompting faculty members to demand that the administration reverse the suspensions and “desist from these and other disciplinary measures.”

The university said that Provost Michael I. Kotlikoff will serve as interim president starting July 1. Upon her retirement, Ms. Pollack will assume the title of president emerita “in recognition of her contributions and legacy.”

Under her leadership, the university said, Cornell established the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy; increased by 1,000 students the number of undergraduates receiving financial aid; and reduced the annual student-loan burden by 25%.

“President Pollack has been a transformational leader of Cornell, and her positive impact on our university will be felt for decades to come,” said Kraig H. Kayser, chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees. “Beyond her achievements in academics, research and affordability, I and my fellow trustees deeply value her intelligence, integrity, candor and warmth, as well as her unwavering commitment to Cornell being a community of belonging.”

Offering a different perspective was Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson, who blamed Ms. Pollack for the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda that sowed strife on campus.

“Martha Pollack was the architect of Cornell’s disastrous race-focused DEI initiative that balkanized the campus, and inevitably led to targeting of Jewish and pro-Israel students,” Mr. Jacobson said.

“While I wish her well in her personal life, it is time for the Cornell Trustees to turn the ship around, to eliminate DEI programming as is taking place elsewhere, and to refocus the campus on the inherent dignity of each individual without regard to group-identity,” he said.

Before taking over in 2017 at Cornell, Ms. Pollack served as University of Michigan provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. She holds a B.A. in linguistics from Dartmouth College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania.

“Pollack led Cornell through challenging times, navigating a global pandemic, a national racial reckoning, and the terrorist attack in Israel and subsequent war in Gaza — the impacts of which have continued to reverberate across the nation, particularly in higher education,” the university said.