STATEMENT READ ON BEHALF OF THE REDBUD WOODS FACULTY WORKING GROUP July 18, 2005

Today, in the face of evident intent on the part of Cornell University to use overwhelming coercive force, Cornell students and Ithaca community members occupying Redbud Woods have signed a constructive agreement with the administration, which includes the promise to vacate the site voluntarily.

Over the past few weeks we have worked alongside the young people, sometimes advising them, always supporting them. In the spirit of our respect for their thoughts and actions, of our gratitude, our esteem, and our love, we offer them the following tribute.

• We deplore the administration’s obdurate determination to destroy this rich urban woodland in order to build a 176-space parking lot. It reached its decision in tortuous ways and maintained it for years despite widespread public opposition and well-informed, often expert objections by students, faculty, community officials, scientists, urban planners, and the public. Most recently, Cornell has deflected (and at times undermined) attempts by campus and community groups to reach compromise solutions and mediated agreements. That saddens us immensely.

• We salute the activists who have stuck to their principles and, time and time again, turned standoffs on the ground or at the negotiating table into victories both strategic and moral. Among them are some of the University's finest students and most principled young leaders, Through reasoned discourse and nonviolent action, the group have held their ground, literally and figuratively, for weeks and then months. Their physical courage and intellectual integrity have astounded us. In years to come they will take great pride in their conduct in this conflict, today and in the last months. For this reason we support the conditional amnesty from disciplinary and legal charges brought by the University which has been guaranteed in the agreement.

• We recognize that while today represents the end of one phase, it also signals the beginning of another. We do not abrogate our right to continue to oppose the building of the parking lot. At the same time we pledge to continue working for the goals of community, democracy, and sustainability, at Cornell and elsewhere, for which these young people have struggled so long and valiantly.

Members of the RFWG:

Ti Alkire, Romance Studies

Kora Bättig, Romance Studies

Lourdes Beneria, City and Regional Planning

Abigail Cohn, Linguistics

George Conneman, Emeritus, Applied Economics and Management

Roy Colle, Emeritus, Communications

Stuart Davis, English

Brett de Bary, Asian Studies and Comparative Literature

Laurie Drinkwater, Horticulture

Thomas Eisner, Neurobiology and Behavior

Tim Fahey, Natural Resources

Wayne Harbert, Linguistics

Martin Hatch, Music

Jane Marie Law, Asian Studies and Religious Studies

Lois Levitan, Environmental Risk Analysis Program, Communication

Joanna Luks, Romance Studies

Barbara Lynch, City and Regional Planning

Jane Mt. Pleasant, American Indian Program

Kenneth Mudge, Horticulture

Judith Pierpont, John S. Knight Writing Institute

Trevor Pinch, Science, Technology, and Society

Carol Rosen, Linguistics

David Rosen, Music

Paul Sawyer, English

James Siegel, Anthropology

Aaron Sachs, History

Elizabeth Sanders, Government

Nava Scharf, Near Eastern Studies

William Trochim, Policy Analysis and Management

Helena Maria Viramontes, English

Margaret Washington, History

Anke Wessels, Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy

Thomas Whitlow, Horticulture