President Pollack addressing alumni in a reunion tent
June Reunion plays a key role in maintaining Cornell’s relationship with its alumni. Over 7,300 alumni registered for the 2024 Reunion bringing it back to pre-COVID levels. The reunion went as planned except for a Pro-Palestine protest briefly halting President Martha Pollack’s State of the University Address.
Although Reunion consists of hundreds of smaller events, all attendees are invited to attend a few signature events: the Olin Lecture, Cornelliana Night, and the President’s State of the University Address in Bailey Hall. These events were livestreamed and also shown in satellite auditoriums to address overflow crowds.
On Saturday morning, June 8, the State of the University Address included a welcome by Trustee Chair Kraig H. Kayser, Pollack’s remarks, and the singing of “Far Above Cayuga’s Waters” led by members of the Glee Club. Pollack’s remarks were organized around Cornell’s six core values that were adopted by a community process early in her administration. She also highlighted important achievements over the past seven years. This was scheduled to be Pollack’s last State of the University Address in light of her retirement on June 30.
During the hour preceding the talk, a group of protesters gathered on the plaza in front of Bailey Hall distributing flyers regarding the Gaza Crisis as well as Sustainability concerns. The group did not hinder access to Bailey Hall and appeared to be in compliance with the Interim Expressive Activity Policy. CU Police were present at both the pre-talk protest as well as the talk inside Bailey Hall.
In the middle of her talk, three protesters began to shout, making noise to the point that Pollack paused her talk until they could be removed from Bailey Hall. The shouting lasted for about 3 minutes and the total pause was about 7 to 10 minutes. The protest appeared to be pre-planned rather than a spontaneous response to anything that Pollack had said in her speech.
Previously, the Coalition for Mutual Liberation (CML) had organized an encampment on the Arts Quad, which was voluntarily dismantled on May 13. CML demonstrators then protested at the Commencement ceremonies on May 25.
Although Cornell has not publicly commented on the protest, the participants appeared to be student-aged. This is not surprising as in recent years, Cornell has promoted “Reunion Zero” which represents just-graduated students returning for Reunion two weeks later. One Cornell source stated that the three protesters inside Bailey Hall were alumni.
CML Cornell Instagram posting
CML publicly targeted the State of the University Address to the exclusion of all other Reunion events. That evening, President Pollack attended Cornelliana Night and was recognized as a member of the audience with a standing ovation.
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On background, Cornell has disclosed that given that the protestor’s interruption was short and that they voluntarily left Bailey Hall, Cornell will not pursue action against them. This contrasts with the trespass at Day Hall or the Arts Quad encampment where Cornell made a point of announcing that they had filed charges with the Ithaca Police Department and made referrals to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. No similar public announcement accompanied Saturday’s actions. The Ithaca Police referred the Cornell Review to the CU Police. The CU Police does not return phone calls. Joel Malina, VP for University Relations, does not respond to email inquiries, and the Cornell Daily Crime Log for June 8 does not include the protest at all. However, any member of the Cornell community can file a complaint against the protesters until June 8, 2025.
Although some of the protesters may be considered students, New York State Law requires Cornell to have Rules for the Maintenance of Public Order that apply to visitors and invitees to campus. Since December 10, 2020, Cornell has been increasingly evasive regarding what its current rules for non-students are. However, Cornell must file a copy of those rules with the NY Department of Education by July 1.
This episode shows that CML intends to continue its Gaza-related protests while Day Hall does not want to give protesters more media impact than their small numbers warrant. This is a difficult judgment to make as it establishes a precedent that Cornell will not enforce its policies that protect the rights of speakers to talk and for audiences to listen without interference nor disruption.
