On May 18, 2021, Cornell adopted a “land acknowledgement” that is recited at the start of events and appears on Cornell webpages. In the wake of the Trump Administration’s efforts to address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and other factors, what is the current state of this initiative? Does the land acknowledgement meet its intended purposes?
Many have questioned the value of land acknowledgements. University of Chicago Law Professor Todd Henderson has claimed that many of the tribes acknowledged, in fact, had displaced earlier indigenous tribes. Graeme Wood wrote an article in The Atlantic that “Land Acknowledgments Are Just Moral Exhibitionism.” But Cornell’s land acknowledgement text has not been revised since its 2021 adoption.
History of the Land Acknowledgement at Cornell
The American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program (AIISP) webpage gives a history of Cornell’s land acknowledgement. AIISP claims that its director started working on a Cornell land acknowledgement in 2010.
The adoption of the land acknowledgement was reported in the Cornell Chronicle without any attribution to the group or executive that approved it. The “approved” text reads:
“Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫɁ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫɁ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫɁ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.”
A major concern is that because the approval process was kept under wraps, the method for changing the text is also unknown. Additionally, ambiguity exists in the text. When the text uses the pronoun “we”, the antecedent of the pronoun is not clear because the authors are unknown. Unlike the land acknowledgements of other colleges, this text does not contain any call to action or indication of differences in outcome going forward.
The AIISP became dissatisfied with the official land acknowledgement. The faculty of the program amended the version on its webpage by adding to the text.
“In addition to the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ land acknowledgment but separate from it, the AIISP faculty would like to emphasize: Cornell’s founding was enabled in the course of a national genocide by the sale of almost one million acres of stolen Indian land under the Morrill Act of 1862. To date the university has neither officially acknowledged its complicity in this theft nor has it offered any form of restitution to the hundreds of Native communities impacted.”
People have objected to this additional text because it fails to separate the federal government’s interaction with the indigenous people to gain land from how the government later disposed of the land under the Morrill Act, the transcontinental railroads, or the Homestead Act. They argue that Cornell University was neither complicit in theft that occurred long before Cornell was founded, nor is there any legal argument to support the claim that Cornell (instead of the federal government) owes restitution to Native communities. New York-based tribes failed in their lawsuits over their indigenous land claims.
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Cornell still actively recites the original version and not the AIISP version. It is read at the start of each University Assembly, Student Assembly, and Faculty Senate meeting. At the June 2025 reunion, it was recited while projecting the text of a large screen in Bailey Hall just before President Kotlikoff delivered his State of the University address.
Neither Cornell nor any other department has adopted the proposed AIISP amendment. However, the standard footers on the College of Engineering’s website link to the AIISP land acknowledgement webpage instead of reprinting the full original text on its own. The College of Arts & Sciences prints the full text of the land acknowledgement at the bottom of its Diversity webpage, followed by: “Learn more about this land acknowledgment through the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program,” with a link to the AIISP version. The Student Support and Advocacy Services webpage has a link to the AIISP version, but other Student and Campus Life webpages do not.
Land Acknowledgements at the University of Washington
The University of Washington adopted a land acknowledgement and encouraged faculty to include the text in their posted course syllabi. Stuart Reges, a University of Washington teaching professor of computer science, did not like the official version and wrote his own that he included in his course syllabus. “I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property, the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington” (This was a reference to John Locke). The University censored his syllabus. When Reges restored his text, they deleted his text again and locked Reges out of his syllabus (to prevent him from restoring his text). The university also created a parallel section of his computer science class with recorded lectures from a prior year for students who did not want him as their professor.
The university started disciplinary proceedings against Reges. Reges sued the university, and the Federal District Court dismissed his complaint. Reges appealed to the Ninth Circuit, which heard oral argument on May 15. No decision has been issued. A key point in the case was that the university encouraged faculty to include the land acknowledgment, but also insisted that only the “official” version could be used. Reges claimed that this violated academic freedom.
The University of Washington is not the only one taking the position that the official land acknowledgement can’t be modified. From the September 2022 adoption of the University of Maryland land acknowledgement until today, the UMD says, “the new land acknowledgement should be the only one read aloud at campus events, and clubs or departments on the campus should not use or create a different one.” The official YouTube video of the UMD land acknowledgement adds two paragraphs to it about DEI. Furthermore, in June 2024, UMD added a separate “enslavement acknowledgement” focusing on the reparation claims of black people. The University of New Mexico offers separate acknowledgments for indigenous people, black people, and immigrants.
The University of Arizona Responds to Trump Executive Orders
The University of Arizona adopted its land acknowledgement in 2021. The last sentence reads, “Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.” The text was approved by the local tribes.
In February 2025, President Trump adopted several Executive Orders calling upon all universities to drop their DEI programs. As a result, the University of Arizona dropped the phrase “committed to diversity and inclusion” from the above sentence. This drew protests from the university’s indigenous students, claiming that any change to the land acknowledgement must first be approved by the local tribes.
“Aligning our land acknowledgment with federal guidance does not change the university’s unwavering commitment to its land grant mission or providing access to a world-class education for Native, Indigenous, and all students,” University of Arizona spokesperson Mitch Zak said in a written statement.
The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana also ends its land acknowledgement with the sentence, “Over the next 150 years, we will be a vibrant community inclusive of all our differences, with Native peoples at the core of our efforts.” The last part of the University of Illinois Chicago land acknowledgement is: “it is our responsibility to listen to Indigenous voices, to honor their rights, and to work together towards equity and inclusion.” There have been no efforts to alter this language following the Executive Orders.
On March 17, 2025, the Young America’s Foundation filed a Title VI complaint against Gettysburg College with the Department of Education for its land acknowledgement (page 5), among other reasons. The complaint is still pending.
On March 25, 2025, Governor DeWine signed the “Advance Ohio Higher Education Act (SB 1).” The new law prohibited DEI programs at state colleges. In response, the Ohio State University adopted a new policy prohibiting land acknowledgements as an unwarranted expression of political views that could no longer be made at start of meetings, on websites or in course syllabi.
The University of Chicago and Institutional Neutrality
The University of Chicago has taken large strides free speech. In 1967, its faculty adopted the Kalven Report, which requires institutional neutrality on the issues of the day. As a result, the University of Chicago has not adopted a “land acknowledgement.”
However, the University of Chicago has a famous K-12 school called the “Lab School” that is owned and operated by the University of Chicago. Without consulting the University of Chicago Provost, the Lab School adopted its own land acknowledgement in 2021. However, because the Kalven Report applies both to the entire university as well as “units” of the university, the Lab School was required to drop its land acknowledgement in 2022.
Sari Hernández, a Lab School English teacher, said, “Are land acknowledgement statements the most important thing that will actually help right some of the wrongs that Indigenous people face day to day? No. But if we can’t even agree that it is important to acknowledge the historical past, then how do we do the other things?”
“Reasonable people could say, ‘Yes, this is a political statement and Kalven prohibits the university and its units from issuing such a statement,’” she said. “And reasonable people could say, ‘This is not political — this is not prohibited by Kalven.’”
President Kotlikoff has announced that he will respect institutional neutrality while he is President and not issue statements on behalf of Cornell on political issues. An “institutional voice” task force is drafting the equivalent of a Kalven Report for Cornell, and it will be interesting to see if Cornell’s land acknowledgement survives that re-examination.
Next Steps
When Cornell’s land acknowledgement was adopted, the AIISP promoted the fact that the text was agreed to by the “traditional Cayuga leadership.” However, the Cayuga Nation has divided into three groups. The two larger groups are located in Oklahoma and Ontario, with a small group returning to the area around Seneca Falls, NY. In turn, the Seneca Falls group has divided into two factions – the Halftown faction and the traditional faction, with Halftown gaining recognition from the Department of the Interior as the recognized leadership of the Seneca Falls group. If Cornell decides to maintain a land acknowledgement, will there be outreach to the Halftown group or the Oklahoma and Ontario groups? If AIISP does the outreach, will it share the current text or the more demanding AIISP version?
How will Cornell differentiate its indigenous land claims acknowledgement from other issues that could be recited at meetings? For example, should Cornell follow UMD and add a slavery acknowledgement? Should Cornell recite a pro-Palestine acknowledgement or a pro-Israel acknowledgement? How about the Lord’s Prayer? Perhaps Cornell could assign each required recitation to a different day of the week.
Since no official has taken responsibility for adopting the current Cornell land acknowledgement, it is unclear what office has the authority to change or repeal the document.
Finally, the idea behind land acknowledgements is that the indigenous population has some claim to the land. However, in the case of the Cayuga Nation, the courts have thoroughly litigated the Cayuga’s claims and rejected them.
