Interim President Michael Kotlikoff sent a statement to the Cornell community on Friday morning addressing campus concerns regarding recent changes to federal regulations and guidelines relating to cuts in federal research funding and research and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. In the statement, Kotlikoff both affirmed the University’s commitment to following the law and described diversity as essential to the University’s mission.  Kotlikoff announced in the statement the creation of a new university response planning team, which will be led by Provost Kavita Bala to analyze the impacts of the new federal policies. “This is a dynamic and evolving situation, and our response planning team will be prepared to address…