Cornell’s Black Student Union (BSU) has reformulated its demands and included the firing of Joel Malina, the Vice President for University Relations. This demand is based upon a Sept. 30 town hall Zoom meeting with Hillel parents.
Cornell Hillel’s Executive Director, Rabbi Ari Weiss, asked Malina if a faculty member could invite a member of the Ku Klux Klan to speak on campus. Malina replied “If there were a faculty member that invited a KKK representative to speak or a student group that invited a KKK representative to speak, yes, we would allow that.” Malina had correctly stated Cornell’s long-standing policy of having a campus open to all ideas.
At a Friday noon rally, the BSU doubled down on this demand, chanting “Fire Joel Malina!” and “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Joel Malina has got to go!”
Many times in the past, Cornell hosted speakers that were offensive to some students. For example, in February 1971, prior to the outbreak of the civil war in Northern Ireland, Bernadette Devlin spoke in Bailey Hall as an Irish Catholic activist. On Oct. 27, 2022, Prof. Russell Rickford invited to campus Jalil Muntaqim, a member of the Black Panther Party who was convicted of murdering several police officers. Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, Ph.D. ’68 visited the campus in 1995 and 2001. Former Vice President Dick Chaney spoke on campus in 2018 over a protest led by Russell Rickford. None of these events would have been allowed if Cornell feared offending Cornell students who held opposing views.
If Cornell were to establish a censorship plan, someone would have the power to make the decisions. It certainly would not be the BSU leadership. Instead, Cornell proudly allows any faculty or student group to invite anyone to campus.
Why Target Joel Malina?
If Malina is not the person behind the policies that trouble the BSU, why demand that he walk the plank? As Vice President for University Relations, Malina controls Cornell’s town-gown budget as well as the Office of the Assemblies. He also controls Cornell’s lobbying in Washington.
Malina has been visible in the negotiations of Cornell’s payments to the City of Ithaca and the Town of Ithaca in lieu of property taxes (PILOT). Some radical members of the Ithaca Common Council demanded a large increase in the PILOT paid to the City in order to balance the city budget without large property tax increases. An increase to $4 million was negotiated with the Mayor, but left-wing protesters tried to enhance the deal with tactics that included blocking traffic on College Avenue. Ultimately, the City approved the deal. Similarly, Malina led the negotiations for a first-time PILOT agreement with the Town of Ithaca.
Cornell, Tompkins County, and the City of Ithaca have a three-way partnership to run the TCAT bus system. TCAT was failing, with many buses sidelined waiting for maintenance. There were many vacancies for both bus drivers and maintenance mechanics. Activists demanded that Cornell throw more money at TCAT to improve service. Instead, Malina negotiated an agreement that would increase funding as TCAT met various performance targets.
Perhaps the BSU–and those advising them–see Malina as a roadblock to unlocking Cornell’s perceived “wealth” to turn Ithaca into a socialist utopia.
Malina is not responsible for Cornell’s speaker invitation policies. The BSU has lost all of its credibility on its Fire Joel Malina campaign.
