Around 150 pro-Palestinian demonstrators, made up of students and community members, gathered for a rally on Cornell University’s campus Monday.
The Cornell Coalition for Mutual Liberation, an alliance of student groups responsible for last spring’s encampment at the university, is calling for divestment from weapons companies, among other reforms to Cornell. Protesters closed the encampment voluntarily last semester, without the arrests seen at other college campuses, although Cornell did not meet their demands. Several protesters were suspended for participating in the encampment.
Many demonstrators at Monday’s rally wore masks or other face coverings to hide their identities. Most of the speakers who addressed the crowd remained anonymous.
“We are so back,” one protester announced.
Protesters criticized former President Martha Pollack’s refusal to act on the results of a referendum, where students voted in favor of divestment from weapons companies and called on the university to support a permanent cease-fire.
In a statement responding to the referendum, Pollack said that it wasn’t appropriate for the university to take a political stance on the war. She also declined to take the divestment proposal to Cornell’s board of trustees, stating that “the principal purpose of our endowment is not to exercise political or social power.”
Pollack retired at the end of the last school year.
One speaker at the rally Monday said students would respond to the devastation in Gaza, even if Cornell leadership would not.
“It has always been depressing to realize that our administration has no backbone and little concern for the deaths in the Global South, but that is why we as students have stepped up,” the speaker said.
Protesters marched to Klarman Hall where they were met by police asking for identification. Demonstrators then linked arms and surrounded speakers, to prevent police from identifying them.
Striking workers
Protesting students were joined by a representative from another group currently protesting on campus. The UAW union, which represents service and maintenance workers, has been on strike at Cornell for over a week.
UAW regional director Daniel Vicente spoke at the protest in Klarman Hall.
“It's the most American thing you can do to question your government, to question the decisions they make and engage in the democratic system,” he said. “It is upon us, not just elected officials, to make a change.”
He said the union wants peace and a cease-fire in Gaza and added that if the U.S is drawn into an escalating conflict with Iran, it is working class people who will suffer the most.
“It won't be the sons and daughters of bankers, it won't be Cornell's executive board that has to go fight,” Vicente told WSKG. “It'll be the sons and daughters of the blue collar, working-class people of this country that have to go back into the Middle East.”
Student protesters have stood with the UAW union and their strike as workers have called for higher wages and a cost of living adjustment, according to Vicente.
He said the union stands in solidarity with those students.
“Just as the student protesters support us on our strike lines, we will continue to support them in whatever endeavors they decide to carry on throughout the school year,” he said.
Campus graffiti
The Monday rally wasn’t the first sign of tension at Cornell this semester.
Earlier that morning, it was discovered that Cornell’s Day Hall had been vandalized; a window was broken and messages in red spray paint were written on the wall outside the front door. The messages read, “Blood is on your hands,” and “Israel bombs, Cornell pays.”
In a statement, Cornell’s vice president for university relations, Joel Malina, wrote that he was appalled. He said police were investigating and those responsible would be subject to criminal charges.
In a post on social media, Republican New York Rep. Marc Molinaro said, “Antisemitism needs to be called out and vandals need jail time.”
Cornell’s interim president, Michael Kotlikoff, made a statement reiterating the school’s expression policies.
He wrote, “Acts of violence, extended occupation of buildings, or destruction of property (including graffiti), will not be tolerated and will be subject to immediate public safety response.”
The statement also outlined a plan for responding to unauthorized encampments that includes warnings to protesters, followed by temporary non-academic and academic suspensions.
