University Statements

Dear Cornellians:

There has been understandable interest and concern regarding the disruption to the ILR Career Fair in the Statler Hotel on September 18, 2024, and the processes by which the violations of the Student Code of Conduct that occurred there are being addressed. While the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the records of individual students, I write today to explain what happened, why it is important that it not happen again, the ongoing process to identify and sanction participants, and the rights of those accused of participation in the event.

The disruption of the ILR Career Fair that followed the Day Hall protest was not a peaceful or harmless rally, as some have described it. Individuals used force to enter the Statler Hotel after receiving explicit instructions by Cornell University Police (CUPD) that they were not permitted to do so. This was made clear to participants, so much so that their organizers announced on a megaphone that they would use any means necessary to breach the Statler and that individuals who did not feel safe partaking in such aggressive tactics should remain outside. Many chose to do just that.

Others made a different decision. They chose, after having been explicitly warned not to do so, to enter the Statler and shut down a scheduled career fair attended by students, staff, and invited employers. They physically forced their way through both the line of police protecting the event at the ground-floor outside entrance to the Statler and the second line of police at the second-floor entrance to the ballroom. Both those who pushed police out of the way at each point and those who followed after did so with the full knowledge that they were violating policy. Indeed, almost all of the individuals wore masks that hid their identities.

At the beginning of the semester, Provost Siliciano and I wrote to the community with principles for addressing peaceful protests that did not disrupt our educational programs. Preventing students from attending an ILR human resources career fair and frightening and harassing invited university guests are not peaceful means of protest. Rather, they are a deliberate means of violating the rights of others who were participating in a scheduled university event. Such actions contravene the fundamental principles of a university and establish an environment of intimidation and fear, rather than reason and discourse.

There is ample video and photographic evidence of these activities, both at the entrance to the Statler and within the ballroom. As of today, these videos and photographs have been used to identify nearly 20 individuals who participated in this disruption. All who have been identified as Cornell students are being referred for conduct violations. Other members of our community who are identified as having participated will face similar referrals. No one has been singled out, and no one who did not participate in the disruption of this university event has been referred.

Many in our community have asked about the process of student referrals and questioned its fairness. The Office of Student Conduct & Community Standards (OSCCS) is responsible for administering the Student Code of Conduct (Code). When a student is referred for an alleged violation, OSCCS assesses whether interim measures are immediately necessary to protect the community, including protecting ongoing activities essential to the mission of the university. A number of interim measures are outlined in the Code, with the most significant being a full temporary suspension until the case is adjudicated. The Code instructs OSCCS to apply the least restrictive measures necessary to protect the community from ongoing harm. Those students who face interim measures, including temporary suspension, have clear process rights per the procedures of the Code. They are provided a written outline of the charges and rationale for the imposition of the temporary suspension, and instructions for how to appeal the decision. If it is a full temporary suspension (disenrollment) students have two independent levels of appeal, the final being to the provost of the university. The appeal process allows students to dispute the actions underlying the referral and the proposed interim measures. Written responses that articulate the rationale for either upholding the decision or accepting the appeal(s) are provided to the student.

In this case OSCCS has recommended the most serious measure, a full temporary suspension, only where the student was identified as having used physical force to push through the CUPD officers or otherwise actively led the disruption, or the student had previously violated the Code and had been provided prior explicit written notification that any future alleged violations of university policy could result in a temporary suspension. If neither of these conditions apply to a student who participated in the Statler disruption, they were (or will be) issued a modified temporary suspension or other interim measure. These interim measures have been neutrally and equally applied to all students.

Free and open inquiry and expression are core Cornell values and a critical part of our academic mission. There have been dozens of protests on campus over the past year and only a very small handful of them have resulted in disciplinary referrals. In this case, however, a clear line was crossed when individuals forced their way into the Statler Ballroom to disrupt a university event. To safeguard the rights of everyone in our community and our ability to continue pursuing our academic mission, it is the obligation of the university to respond in a way that recognizes the seriousness of this behavior.

Sincerely,

Michael Kotlikoff
Interim President