The Cornell Daily Sun, the student newspaper of Cornell University, reports that "Cornell students are forced to regularly face inaccessibility at Cornell. From having approved accommodations ignored by professors to allegations that Cornell systematically denies applications that mention mental illness and a lack of accessible infrastructure, Cornell students regularly report access barriers in their daily lives. Too often, the responsibility for fixing these issues is placed on the students themselves."
One student, who utilizes paratransit services, notes that the CULift service requires 24-hours advance notice, which substantially alters the college experience for students with mobility issues. "I couldn't talk to my professors after class, meet up with friends for lunch, attend my clubs or go home when my condition became too much," said the student to The Cornell Daily Sun.
Another article in The Cornell Daily Sun observes that not all buildings on campus are wheelchair accessible. Meanwhile, Cornell's online accessibility map of campus is "challenging to navigate and hard to find."
The Student Neurodiversity Alliance at Cornell (SNAC) held its 3rd annual Neurodiversity Celebration Week earlier this year.
Cornell University is currently ranked 11th best national university by U.S. News, an improvement of one place from last year.
08.23.2025: Pillar II was updated. Added news on DEI at Cornell and changed answer from "Yes" to "No."
One case that Schwabe said stuck with her came in late December 2024, when one of her direct reports, Jaeyong Lee, was abruptly fired for what she described as a pretextual reason the day he returned from medical leave.
Lee, 55, a former hospitality program facilitation manager based in Florida, said he was dealing with depression last year, having lost both his brother and mother just weeks apart. He was approved to take time off and travel to South Korea, where his family is from, to comfort his sister and attend memorial services.
Because his role was remote, Lee said he was under the impression that he could stay abroad for several more days after his medical leave had ended as long as he kept up with his work. But the first day he returned to his job, Lee said an eCornell HR representative told him via Zoom he had been fired for working outside the U.S. It is a requirement that, while in University policy, both he and Schwabe said was not communicated to him before and could have been addressed had he been warned in advance or if his leave was extended for a few days.
“Instead of being in my shoes and trying to understand, they just cut me off,” Lee said. “I don’t even want to talk about it. It is that hard to even talk about.”
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At Cornell, prospective student applications are reviewed jointly by an admissions counselor and a faculty member like me. During my assigned semester, I spent a couple hours each week sitting in the office of my colleague, Jill (name changed), where we sorted through a large stack and discussed the potential of each applicant. For the most part, we came to similar conclusions, even if she put more stock into standardized test scores than I did.
Then one day we considered an application from a student whom I will call Reggie. His essay dealt honestly and courageously with his struggles with depression, and the progress he had made. I was struck by his eloquence and insight, and said as much to Jill. She agreed, but then said: “Of course, we can’t admit him.”
I was puzzled, so she explained that the admissions department had an informal policy of rejecting any applicant who mentioned depression or other mental illnesses in their essay. “People with depression pose a significant burden on us as advising deans,” she explained — meaning, they might hit a crisis point after arriving on campus, and require time-consuming support from Jill and her colleagues. “We have discussed this many times in the department, and that’s our policy.” She was flatly unwilling to consider Reggie any further: a diagnosis of depression, in her view, was disqualifying.
Source:Link