Justice Ginsburg praises Cornell's longtime vision of equal education

By Linda Myers

"The new [Supreme Court] term is under way, the court is in the midst of its first full sitting period. It is a time I normally sit close to my desk and refrain from out-of-town travel," said Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a member of Cornell's Class of 1954, delivers remarks during inauguration ceremonies in Barton Hall, Oct. 16. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

The associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, who was the honored guest speaker at the inauguration of Jeffrey Lehman as Cornell's 11th president Oct. 16 in Barton Hall, told of how Lehman called her to extend a personal invitation to speak at the ceremony -- using "his new, altogether disarming presidential voice." And this made returning to her alma mater seem "irresistible," Ginsburg said.

Ginsburg, who graduated from Cornell in 1954, used the occasion of the inauguration to honor Lehman for his vigorous defense of race-conscious admissions policies in higher education in a high-profile University of Michigan Law School case upheld by the Supreme Court this past June.

She also praised Cornell for filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the case urging the justices to approve Michigan's policies, an action that she called "right on target for a university whose founding vision wanted 'no sex or color' excluded."

Ginsburg noted, "It was Andrew Dickson White's vision that 'truth shall be taught for truth's sake'" and that "'persons of every religious denomination, or of no religious denomination,' should have an equal opportunity to attend and serve the new institution," she said.

Ginsburg, who has devoted much of her career to championing equal treatment for women and men under the law, summarized the tenure and achievements of each of Cornell's past 10 presidents. In particular, she noted that Jacob Gould Sherman (1892-1920) strongly advocated student diversity, writing, in 1911: "All university doors must remain open to all students," whatever their "color or creed, social standing or pecuniary condition."

Among the other past presidents she praised was James Perkins (1963-69), who "sought to advance student diversity and started a project to offer minority students enriched educational opportunities." Although Perkins resigned following nationally publicized episodes of campus unrest, the era was "a disruptive time for colleges across the country," Ginsburg pointed out.

She also noted that Perkins and his immediate successor, Dale Corson, presided over needed changes at the university, in particular, a more-balanced male-to-female student ratio than the 4:1 ratio that kept bright female applicants out when Ginsburg was an undergraduate in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, 1950-54. The changes meant that "women were no longer required to be ever so much smarter than the men," said Ginsburg, pointedly.

But perhaps the biggest changes came under Frank H.T. Rhodes' tenure, said Ginsburg. Not only did deficit spending end following a huge, successful capital campaign to increase the university's endowment, but minority enrollment, at 8 percent in 1977 when Rhodes took office, was at 28 percent in 1994, the year before he stepped down. In addition, the number of women and minorities on the faculty had more than doubled during that time.

"Cornell's founding vision of equal respect and caring for all humankind was no longer a distant dream," Ginsburg said.

She ended her talk by quoting from a letter written in 1867 by Ezra Cornell to his granddaughter Eunice in which he wrote: "I want to have girls educated in the University as well as boys so they may have the same opportunity to become wise and useful to society that the boys have."

"I didn't know of that letter when I attended Cornell," said Ginsburg. "I would have treasured it then; I treasure it now." Her wish for Cornell under Jeffrey Lehman, she said, "is that it will continue to thrive and reach new heights ... welcoming men and women of every color and creed, whatever their social standing or 'pecuniary condition.'"

The full text of Ginsburg's remarks are at http://www.inauguration.cornell.edu/news/stories/ith_ginsburg_transcript.cfm.