Cornell University President Martha Pollack announced her resignation on Thursday as pro-Hamas demonstrations continue sweeping college campuses across the world.
“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,” Pollack wrote in her resignation letter.
“There is so much more to Cornell than the current turmoil taking place at universities across the country right now, and I hope we do not lose sight of that.”
While a Cornell student was arrested in November for posting death threats against Jews, Pollack avoided being called by the House Education and Workforce Committee over campus antisemitism, according to the New York Times.
Pollack’s resignation comes at a time when college presidents across the country have been under significant strain due to campus unrest following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent outpouring of Hamas support from student bodies nationwide. With Pollack’s departure, effective June 30, Cornell will join three other Ivy League schools – Yale, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania- in search of new presidents.
