Authored by: Dylan Carson ’28
Endorsed by: Max Ehrlich ’26, Lydia Blum ’27, Alexander Walters ’28, Jocelyn Swavy ’28
Type of Action: Recommendation
Originally Presented: 03/12/2026
Current Status: Adopted by the Assembly, 21-1-0, 04/16/2026
Whereas, in 1862, the Morrill Act provided thousands of acres of Indigenous lands to states as land parcels or as scrip to be sold to provide for future for land-grant university endowments1,
Whereas, the land for these grants relied on dispossession of Indigenous lands through treaties, often signed under coercion and with very little compensation, in what is today the western United States1,
Whereas, Cornell University is “…the largest recipient of proceeds from appropriated Indigenous lands from the 1862 Morrill Act…” and “…the institution that accrued the greatest financial benefit from that land…”2,
Whereas, peer land grant institutions have hosted symposia on the land treaties that supported their endowment (University of Wisconsin-Madison), offered courses about the indigenous history of the institution (MIT), and used the annual income from land provided by the Morrill Act for scholarships and programs for Indigenous students and for financing an American Indian Student Center (South Dakota State University)3,
Whereas, Cornell University’s acknowledgment of the benefits it received from the Morrill Act is limited to a brief explanation that describes Cornell’s implications in the dispossession of Indigenous land on Cornell University’s “Commitment to Indigenous Communities and Nations in North America”,
Whereas, Cornell University’s land acknowledgement official land acknowledges addressed the University’s relationship to the ancestral Gayogo̱hó:nǫ’ land, but fails to mention the “…ancestral lands of Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Dakota, Ho-Chunk, Kansa (Kaw), and Osage nations with which the University directly grew its endowment from 1868 to 1935…”3,
Whereas, Cornell University’s Morrill Hall is named in honor of Senator Justin Morrill, the Morrill Act’s sponsor,
Whereas, Cornell University still owns 50% of the mineral rights to the Blue Hills Pipestone Quarry, known as Ozhaawashkonaagwad to the Ojibwe, in Barron County, Wisconsin. This quarry is a site of significant spiritual interest to the Ojibwe people and appears on the National Register of Historic Places4,
Be it therefore resolved, the Student Assembly recommends that Cornell University leadership update its land acknowledgment to recognize the lands seized from Native nations (i.e. the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Dakota, Ho-Chunk, Kansa (Kaw), and Osage nations) with which Cornell grew its endowment in addition to acknowledging its relationship to ancestral Gayogo̱hó:nǫ’ land here in New York,
Be it further resolved, the Student Assembly recommends that Cornell University leadership develop and display signage in and around Morrill Hall which explain the history and legacy of the Morrill Act as well as the financial endowment that Cornell has and continues to receive from it,
Be it finally resolved, the Student Assembly recommends that, as a tangible first step, Cornell leadership transfer its 50% ownership of the mineral rights within the parcel of land containing the Blue Hills Pipestone Quarry to the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe Indians.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dylan Carson ‘28
College of Arts & Sciences Representative, Student Assembly
Max Ehrlich ‘26
College of Industrial and Labor Relations Representative, Student Assembly
Lydia Blum ’27
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences Representative, Student Assembly
Alexander Walters ’28
Vice President for Communications, Student Assembly
Jocelyn Swavy ’28
College of Arts & Sciences Representative, Student Assembly
