INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 142, No. 1
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2025 n ITHACA, NEW YORK
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Science
Trump Talks
Sunny Science
University reveals financial next steps amid reported $100 million settlement talks with the Trump administration. | Page 4
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The science of feeling happy under the sun: why do humans enjoy the sunshine so much? | Page 12
At eCornell, Allegations of Bias, Toxic Leadership
“The minute I left there, I enrolled in therapy,” one former administrator told The Sun. By GABRIEL LEVIN Sun Senior Editor
Aug. 25 — eCornell, the University’s online learning division, markets itself as an inclusive place to learn. Every year, it serves more than 100,000 students across the globe — over six times the undergraduate student body in Ithaca. But inside the organization, which has a wider reach than any other University program, a Sun investigation uncovered allegations of discrimination and serious mismanagement. It is part of a larger pattern of similar claims about eCornell that the University has been aware of for at least two years, yet has not taken decisive action on. “There are some huge, systemic issues at this point [at eCornell],” said Cooper Sirwatka, the University administrator in charge of civil rights compliance, in a secretly recorded conversation with an eCornell employee from 2023 that The Sun obtained. At the time, Sirwatka said his three-person team — which was responsible for investigating cases of discrimination, harassment and retaliation across the University — had been devoting the equivalent of nearly 75 percent of a full-time staffer’s hours solely to complaints about eCornell. eCornell, a multimillion-dollar for-profit business owned by the University, makes its money primarily from a wide array of virtual non-credit certificate programs it sells to individual professionals and large organizations looking to upskill their employees. The programs, which are authored by Cornell
faculty in subjects ranging from business to beekeeping, generally cost around $3,600 apiece. But while eCornell has proven itself central to the University’s digital ambitions, it has earned a less flattering reputation among many of the workers who keep it running. “No one from central Cornell wants to be at eCornell,” Sirwatka said in the audio. “No one does.” In interviews, 15 former employees, most of whom worked remotely, said little has changed since. Bias and toxic leadership at the organization, they said, go unchecked. A former associate director, Jackie Schwabe, told The Sun that a senior eCornell leader rationalized firing an employee — whose first language is not English but is fluent — by saying “nobody understood” him. Schwabe had earlier filed a report with the University against that same senior leader after he directed her to fire ten employees of color unfairly, she said. Another former administrator said that in departmental meetings led by an eCornell vice president, he was mocked for his stutter and was later laid off. A different former administrator said another eCornell vice president inappropriately altered a now-laidoff employee’s performance review, marking her unsuccessful when she had, in fact, been successful. Through a University spokesperson, Vice Provost for External Education and Executive Director of eCornell Paul Krause ’91 declined an interview request. Krause did not respond to a list of detailed questions. In
a statement to The Sun, University spokes- ed to carry it out herself. She said she was person Rebecca Valli wrote, “Staff consis- ordered to fire well-performing employees, tently rate working at eCornell positively on often people of color, under flimsy and preemployee surveys.” She added that Cornell textual justifications, and faced open hostility does not comment on individual personnel from her boss when she resisted. matters but that eCornell’s “HR decisions [If you have a tip on this or another story, are made after careful consideration, follow- submit it using The Sun’s confidential tip line or reach out to Gabriel Levin at 949ing University policy and applicable law.” Former employees, however, said the 584-5968 on cell or Signal.] most vulnerable workers, including older adults, people of color and those with disTo continue reading this article, please visit abilities or mental health issues, were often www.cornellsun.com the first to be targeted for layoffs and firings. Schwabe, 48, said she watched that Gabriel Levin can be reached at dynamic play out — from the vantage point glevin@cornellsun.com. of a middle-level manager who was direct-
ISABELLE JUNG / SUN SENIOR EDITOR
Chaos at eCornell | An investigation from The Sun uncovered allegations of discrimination and serious mismanagement at eCornell.
ICE Recruiting Through University to Revise Code Cornell Career Services of Conduct, Procedures
By EVERETT CHAMBALA Sun Contributor
Aug. 25 — Cornell Career Services is promoting multiple positions at the Department of Homeland Security, including the role of Deportation Officer at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Deportation Officer position appeared on the Career Services website on August 1, linking to job postings on platforms USA Jobs and Handshake. ICE is a government agency responsible for the deportation, arrests and detainment of individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants. It is projected to potentially be the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency under the Trump Administration in 2026, with a budget set to surpass the FBI. Prior to the Deportation Officer listing, Career Services began promoting recruitment webinars and Zoom sessions for jobs at the United States Customs and Border Patrol Agency, appearing on the Cornell Career Services’ “Experiences” page as of July 8. These webinars have been similarly promoted at other universities, including Columbia University and Yale University. Webinars for Border Patrol applications
were held on several dates in July and were open to 1,295 schools and colleges across the country, according to a Cornell spokesperson. Following the passage of the Trump Administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” — an 887-page spending bill outlining tax cuts and budget increases for Trump-era programs — there has been an increased push to recruit new members to the Border Patrol and ICE. ICE is planning to add 10,000 new agents and will receive $76 billion from the “One Big Beautiful Bill” over the next four years. The bill allocates $8 billion for Border Patrol recruitment, and Immigration enforcement received a $170 billion total funding increase. ICE recently changed the minimum age for an officer from 21 to 18, and they are now offering a sign-on bonus of $50,000 alongside promises of $60,000 towards student loan forgiveness. To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com. Everett Chambala can be reached at ewc49@cornell.edu.
By ZEINAB FARAJ Sun Features Editor
Aug. 26 — Ryan Lombardi, the vice president for student and campus life announced to the Cornell community a “formal review process” of the Student Code of Conduct and Procedures citing changes across higher education and Cornell in a Tuesday morning statement. The Student Code of Conduct outlines behavioral expectations and regulations for Cornell students across all campuses. The Student Code of Conduct Procedures describes the formal investigation and resolution processes that the University uses when a student is alleged to have broken the Student Code of Conduct. Both of the codes were last approved for revisions by the Board of Trustees in December 2020 and went into effect in August 2021. According to the statement signed by Lombardi, reviewing each of the Codes is important in “ensuring that these documents remain relevant and effective.” The announcement of an updated Code of Conduct and Code of Conduct Procedures comes amid numerous changes to the University’s operations — including the launch of the Cornell Office of Civil Rights in June and changes to the University’s Expressive Activity
Policy. During the 2024-2025 academic year, pro-Palestine student protesters voiced concerns over the Code of Conduct and its suspension procedures following the Statler Hall protest that shut down a career fair featuring defense contractors Boeing and L3Harris. “Since the current Code went into effect in 2021, much has changed across higher education and within our own Cornell campus community,” Lombardi wrote. “As student life and academic expectations have evolved, our approach to student learning and accountability must also evolve.” Lombardi also explained that the new Codes will involve “feedback from students, faculty, and staff.” He will also oversee changes to the Code along with the University’s “shared student governance bodies” and Dean of Students Marla Love, who will lead the Codes and Procedures Revision Committee. This committee is expected to include members of the Student Assembly, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, faculty members and staff. To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com. Zeinab Faraj can be reached at zfaraj@ cornell.edu.