This story has been updated several times. Read below for time-stamped updates throughout the day, as well as video and pictures from the rally and encampment.
ITHACA, N.Y. — Protesters from Cornell’s Coalition for Mutual Liberation (CML) formed a sizable encampment on Cornell University’s Arts Quad Thursday, urging the school to divest from any Israeli holdings in light of the ongoing war in Gaza, among a list of eight demands in total.
Protesters, mostly made up of student organizers, gathered a rally at the site Thursday morning after a conversation with Cornell administration, who tried throughout the day to convince the students to move the campsite to a different location, between Day Hall and Sage Chapel.
Student protesters consistently rejected the offer throughout the day, maintaining that without tangible movement on their demands, they would not move the encampment in discussions with Cornell leadership.
“We’re not going anywhere,” shouted Nick Wilson, a Cornell sophomore and one of the organizers, to cheers from the crowd.
During the mid-afternoon rally that peaked at a few hundred people — chanting and cheering on speakers calling for Cornell’s divestment and a free Palestine, and without any visible confrontations between opposing groups — organizers made it clear several times they would not move from the location unless they are physically removed or the school begins to negotiate “in good faith” on their nine demands, shown below.
The group’s reservation of the Arts Quad expired at 8 p.m. Thursday, at which point Cornell’s Chief Financial Officer Christopher Cowen (who was handling the in-person discussions with the protesters as the day wore on) told them they could be arrested by Cornell police even though that was an outcome Cowen said the school did not want. In response, around 8 p.m. protesters formed a human chain to surround the campsite before sending crowd members and rallygoers home around 10 p.m.
As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, police had not made any arrests or entered the encampment at all.
However, students, faculty and staff were informed via a letter from Cornell VP of University Relations Joel Malina on Thursday afternoon that they would face discipline with the school if they continued to participate in the encampment — suspensions for students, HR referrals for faculty and staff.
“This is not an outcome we welcome,” Malina said to conclude his letter. “We want to provide avenues for everyone to make their voices heard, but this must be done in ways that respect the policies we have in place to protect the public health and safety of our community and the rights of all to do their work.”
Students questioned Cowen about the suspensions during a lengthy discussion between Cowen and protesters Thursday evening. Protester Momodou Taal said he felt the school was jumping to suspension threats solely to quash the demonstration.
“When 5,000 students have voted, I feel like we have a mandate to be here,” Taal said, referring to the recent student body referendum that called on Cornell to divest from Israel and call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. “The rush to suspension is in bad taste on the part of the administration.”
Cowen and other administrators have frequently brought up that there are two other reservations for the space, the Relay for Life on Saturday and a Hindu Holi celebration on Sunday. Protester Jawuanna McAllister pushed back on that point, though, noting that those events don’t use the entire Arts Quad and both don’t start until the weekend — theoretically meaning the Arts Quad is empty until then.
There is currently no end-date for the protest, as student organizers remained steadfast they would not move their encampment until Cornell engages in negotiations on their demands, while the school maintained that the tents were a violation of university policy and, as of the expiration of the group’s permit Thursday evening, that the gathering is also a violation of policy.
Cowen stated during the conversation that just because something is a violation of policy, doesn’t mean the school would immediately hand out punishments or call in the police. But he made it clear that Cornell leadership is considering all of those options as the protest continues.
Please read below for a timeline of events from earlier in the day as the protest and encampment formed.
Update (3:00 p.m.): Cornell University students continue their rally and expanded their encampment area significantly on the university’s Arts Quad.
Student organizers announced their intention to stay at the location, tents included, despite Cornell officials offering to allow the encampment demonstration to continue outside of Day Hall.
“We’re not going anywhere,” yelled one organizer into the megaphone, drawing cheers from the surrounding crowd of about 200-300 people who are gathered at the site.
Student organizers have also asked participants not to interact with any groups that come to the scene to counter-protest out of a concern for safety for all parties. A Cornell University police officer on-scene said they had been told to maintain a presence at the rally, but were not told of further plans.
Update (1:40 p.m.): Cornell Chief Financial Officer Christopher Cowen told organizers and students from outside the borders of the encampment to take down their tents from the Arts Quad by 1 p.m. Cowen said organizers are able to remain on the quad, without tents, until 8 p.m. Organizers are continuing their demonstration as of 1:40 p.m.
Administrators offered students space near Day Hall, which houses the school’s higher administration, to raise the tents. The students declined. Between 100-200 people are now rallying on the Arts Quad.
Original Story:
ITHACA, N.Y. — Student protestors set up camping tents and banners on Cornell University’s Arts Quad Thursday morning. The demonstration, which organizers are calling a “liberated zone,” is part of an ongoing call for the university to divest from its holdings in Israel.
As of 10 a.m., 13 tents were assembled on the quad.
After students set up their tents, Cornell administrators asked if they would move to a different part of campus, in light of other events scheduled to be held on the Arts Quad in the near future — namely, the Relay for Life on Saturday and the Hindu celebration of Holi on Sunday.
Students and administrators agreed to reconvene at noon at the latest, giving organizers more time to decide whether or not to move the encampments. Organizers called for an emergency rally at 11:30 a.m., before the meeting with administrators is set to take place.
Dozens of similar demonstrations have sprung up at college campuses across the country in the days since police tried to clear a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University, arresting more than 100 protesters in the process.
Cornell sophomore Nick Wilson said he and fellow organizers from the Cornell Coalition for Mutual Liberation felt it was important to stage a similar demonstration at Cornell, citing the university’s ties to Israel and partnerships with defense contractors.
“The partnership with [Israel Institute of Technology] Technion means that Cornell not only is invested in weapons manufacturers, but is actively involved in the research development of weapons technologies that are being used by the [Israeli Defense Forces] on the ground, in the genocide in Gaza,” Wilson said.
The group published a list of nine demands, ranging from more transparency on the university’s finances, Palestine-focused academic programming, campus police reduction and more points concerning the war in Gaza, all of which can be seen to the left below (click to enlarge).
The demonstration comes days after Cornell undergraduate students voted overwhelmingly in favor of the university divesting from its partnerships with 10 arms manufacturers. In the same referendum, 70% of voters expressed support for a statement from Cornell leadership calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
After the referendum, which took place on April 22, Cornell President Dr. Martha Pollack has 30 days to decide whether the school will institute a policy addressing the two referendum questions or reject either one or both of them.
A request for comment from Cornell officials was not immediately returned.
Pollack issued a letter to the community on April 19 advising students of resources they can use to “[navigate] these challenging times.” She also asked for campus community members to “treat each other with respect” and that there is “no place on our campus for harassment or discrimination.”
Wilson said he and fellow organizers estimate roughly 40 people will occupy the area in tents overnight, but expect additional supporters to turn out for events planned throughout the week. Their goal is to “see [Cornell’s] administration honor what students have made very clear as their demand.”
“The hope is we’ll be creating sort of a liberated zone on campus, which will include things like teach-ins, public art builds [and] a Shabbat service hosted by the Jewish Voices for Peace chapter on campus,” Wilson said.
Organizers did not give an end date for the demonstration, though the university’s last day of classes is May 7.
Wilson said the demonstration had support from some community members outside the university, but declined to say whether that support included monetary or in-kind donations.
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