Many scientists choose to involve fossil-fuel companies in academic research, assuming that those companies approach the climate crisis in good faith. But that assumption is tenuous (see, for example, D. Almond et al. Nature Clim. Change 12, 1122–1128; 2022). We urge academic institutions to re-evaluate their fossil-fuel connections.

A siloed and closed-door decision-making process is vulnerable to special interest groups and short-sighted decisions that will forego deeper inquiry and deliberation on how we might build a new school that benefits the broader global community and generations to come. Given the long-term impact of these decisions, we urge Dean Majumdar and the Doerr School leadership to shape the school in a truly transparent and democratic manner.