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Cornell continues to use "temporary" suspensions to dish out harsh penalties against students who demand that the university address its complicity in the genocide against the Palestinian people.
In my latest piece in @nationmag, I found an inconsistency between Cornell's official policy regarding how a process that resembles due process gets reconciled with the unilateral power of the director of Cornell's student disciplinary office. In a meeting with a student facing discipline, this individual seems to have misrepresented her power, overstating it.
“It’s basically a prosecutor’s tactic: overcharge someone so they have a massive sentence ahead of them, so that they’ll plead down to something lesser, even if they were innocent to begin with,” wrote Cornell professor David Bateman in an email.
Momodou Taal, a Black, Muslim, international student initially faced the threat of deportation for being present at the same action that these students are being suspended for. Following much public pressure locally & nationally, Cornell has decided not to de-enroll Taal, meaning that he will likely not have to leave the country. However, without evidence, he is still banned from campus and his ability to work as a graduate worker has been affected.
#Cornell administrators say that the use of temporary suspensions are being used "where immediate action is necessary to protect the Complainant or the University community.”
However, almost a month passed between the action in question and the disciplinary actions taken by the university, so the word "immediate" must have a very expansive definition for Cornell admins.
Though it took the university a month to ban these students from campus, the disciplinary actions took place two days before #CornellUniversity board of trustees met on campus. The chair of Cornell's board of trustees, Kraig Kayser, sits on the board of weapons company Moog Inc.
According to The New Republic, "Last year, Kayser took home over $200,000 in combined cash and stock awards from Moog for his role on its board."
#Ithaca #Ithacany #Divestment #Gaza #Palestine #FreedomOfExpression #PalestineException