I think the following excerpts capture his central message:
I am convinced that the political movement seeking to inject religion into state policy and our schools is serious enough to require our collective time and attention. Cornell’s history, its intellectual scope, and its current commitments position us well to contribute to the national debate on religion and science. . . . This is an issue that should engage not simply our science faculty . . . but, in particular, our social scientists and humanists. This is above all a cultural issue, not a scientific one. The controversy is about the tensions between science and belief, reason and faith, public policy and private religiosity.
Modern research universities have become segmented. We have scientists over here, humanists and social scientists over there. Knowledge is divided into ever-smaller categories; our specialization becomes ever more narrow. I believe it is time to put the disparate parts of the modern research university back together. … Humanists and social scientists, whose expertise lies in understanding cultures and ideas, can – and should -- move us beyond ridiculing or ignoring our opponents or claiming that, at some level, science is good and faith is bad. They can keep us from claiming too much in the sphere of religion or in the sphere of science and give us the language we need to learn from each other.
Consistent with Cornell’s land grant mission, I ask as well that humanists, social scientists, and scientists venture outside the campus to help the American public sort through these complex issues. I ask them to help a wide audience understand what kinds of theories, arguments, and conclusions deserve a place in the academy – and why it isn’t always a good idea to “teach the controversies.” … Cornellians who do will be acting in the great tradition of Cornell’s founders, Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White.
The full text can be found at:
http://www.cornell.edu/president/announcement_2005_1021.cfm
Art Spitzer
(Cornell '71)
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