On May 13, the Arts Quad encampment led by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation ended. The next day, President Martha Pollack issued a statement that was distributed to students in an email. It said in part:
“While I do not condone the encampment, which was in clear violation of university policies, I want to acknowledge and express gratitude that in contrast to what has taken place at some other universities, the participants here remained peaceful and nonviolent throughout, and for the most part they tried to minimize the disruption caused. With this in mind, and provided no further violations of university policy occur, we are able to pause on issuing additional suspensions and disciplinary referrals. We will also promptly and carefully review all existing cases in accordance with our procedures for resolution and adjudication. Should there be repeat or new violations, additional sanctions will be issued, though I am very hopeful this will not be necessary.”
Most notably, President Pollack did not grant any of the CML’s demands, including a demand for full amnesty. President Pollack did “express gratitude” to the departed protesters and acknowledged a “strong desire for the university to provide more education around the history and politics that have led to the current crisis.”
While Pollack criticized students who called encampment protesters slurs such as “kapo”, she failed to mention protesters’ chants of “there is only one solution, Intifada revolution!” Which were heavily criticized as anti-semitic by a number of Jewish students.
President Pollack’s statement drew a number of responses, including one from Taila Dror ‘24, who was Vice President of Cornellians for Israel:
“My name is Talia Dror, I’m a senior in the ILR school. I also happen to be a pretty loud voice as a Jewish student leader.
I knew that in speaking up against the hate on campus, despite doing so with grace rather than putting myself in a time-out on the arts quad like a toddler, I opened the door to hatred and criticism. I have written hard hitting articles in the Cornell Daily Sun, posted viral videos on social media addressing divestment, not to mention writing articles in national publications and testifying in a congressional hearing that I’m sure you all know went massively viral back in November.
Since then I have been called many names. My personal messages have been filled with threats and slurs from other students. I have been filmed walking around campus. Want to talk about trivializing the holocaust? As a Jew defending the Jewish state that was recently subject to an attempted genocide I am regularly called a Zio-Nazi. I have been called out with my full name on sidechat and other social media sources. In the attached screenshots you can even see someone comment my hometown on sidechat. If I were to list everything I’ve been called in the past six months, this email would be pages long.
The students you thank and defend are terrorizing students and stifling any dissenting opinion. They are cosplaying as peace loving and shouting phrases that call for the slaughter of Jews. They are endorsing terrorism. But I don’t even need to tell you that. You claim to uphold the principles of free speech, but when such an environment of intimidation exists, only people willing to sacrifice their careers and reputations are the ones afforded that right.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with many of you over the past six months about the rising tensions on campus. It is no secret where I lie in terms of personal views, but my focus in many of our conversations has been restoring our campus to an environment that fosters inclusivity and diversity of thought for all students.
I appreciate your words and sentiment of trying to foster an environment that actually achieves this. I took Menachem Rosensaft’s course this semester. I look to the provost’s office sponsoring an educational series as a win for the community. I view the university condemning bigotry as a win for us, as an educational institution, who has set a precedent on taking stances on moral good and bad, to uphold that same precedent in a content neutral manner.
Thanking these detractors for remaining not-violent is testament to the double standard created and upheld. I will not be attending my ILR school graduation because I refuse to celebrate investing my life’s savings to attend an institution indoctrinating students with anti-Western rhetoric and hatred of the free world and commending them for not stabbing Jews in the eye like my friend Sahar (the Talia Dror at Yale) was.
All the best,
Talia”
Although President Pollack has paused disciplinary referrals by Day Hall, any member of the Cornell Community has up to a year to file a complaint against any encampment protester. In addition, the US Department of Education has a pending investigation of anti-semitic and/or Islamophobic conduct at Cornell under Title VI of the 1965 Civil Rights Act.
Anti-semitism on college campuses continues to be in the national spotlight. On Thursday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce released a report stating that Harvard University was slow to react to a wave of hostility against Jewish students last fall and ignored recommendations from an advisory group created to address anti-semitism. The report highlighted that Harvard failed to investigate and discipline alleged acts of anti-semitism against individuals, and failed to curtail anti-semitism within pro-Palestinian protests.
