INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 141 No. 55
12 Pages – Free
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2024 n ITHACA, NEW YORK
Photo
Comics
Sports
Weather
Encampment Captured
Tent Terror
Lacrosse Triumphs
Thunderstorms
Nina Davis '26 presents the timeline of the first five days of the encampment in photos.
Isabelle Jung '26 pokes fun at the administrative response to the encampment in a graphic of President Martha Pollack. | Page 10
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Men's lacrosse won its 32nd Ivy League title with its win against Dartmouth.
HIGH: 77º LOW: 55º
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Students Stage Pro-Palestine Encampment By GABRIEL MUÑOZ, JULIA SENZON, KATE SANDERS, MATTHEW KIVIAT and ERIC REILLY Sun City Editor, Managing Editor, News Editors and Assistant Managing Editor
Approximately 50 students staged a pro-Palestine encampment on the Arts Quad as of early Thursday morning. Cornell follows demonstrators at several other institutions establishing “liberated zones,” which have prompted mass arrests and suspensions. Demonstrators are stating they will continue the encampment until the University meets their demands or removes them from campus. The Coalition for Mutual Liberation, a pro-Palestine coalition of over 40 organizations, organized the encampment. Approximately 17 tents are enclosed by a lowto-the-ground tarp fence in front of McGraw Hall. According to an email from CML to The Sun, the encampment was established at 4 a.m. and administrators told the demonstrators to move twice by 9 a.m. Anyone is welcome to enter the “liberated zone,” so long as they complete an “arrest intake form" to help CML keep track of and support protestors should they be arrested and placed in jail. The demonstration comes a week after the majority of student voters approved of a ceasefire and divestment referendum, held from April 18 to April 19. According to a CML press release, demonstrators are asking the University to take action on
eight demands including providing restitution to Indigenous communities, ensuring transparency in its current finances, divesting from “morally reprehensible activities” as per the 2016 Standard Guide to Divestment Consideration, dissolving partnerships with the Jacobs-Technion Cornell Institute and any other partnerships with the Technion Israel, establishing a Palestinian studies program under the College of Arts and Sciences, publicly acknowledging and protecting anti-Zionist perspectives, recognizing that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism and removing all police from campus including from student protests.
Bianca Waked grad listed grievances about the University and occupant’s list of demands. To continue reading this story, please visit www. cornellsun.com. Gabriel Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@ccornellsun.com. Julia Senzon can be reached at jsenzon@ccornellsun.com. Kate Sanders can be reached at ksanders@ccornellsun.com. Matthew Kiviat can be reached at mkiviat@ccornellsun.com. Eric Reilly can be reached at ereilly@ccornellsun.com.
“You don’t have to be in here to be in the liberated territory. The liberated territory is a concept. The liberated territory is in your head,” Prof. Russell Rickford Demonstrators are asking for police to be replaced with an emergency response team composed of healthcare workers and first responders trained in de-escalation. They are also asking for total legal and academic amnesty for all individuals involved in the encampment and similar demonstrators. Starting at 11:30 a.m., approximately 300 supporters began gathering around the encampments. With supporters surrounding the encampment,
MING DEMERS / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Encampent erected | The encampment is now entering its sixth day, with about 50 participants.
Cornell Suspends Four Protestors Pollack Warns of Encampment participants refused to take down tents and leave More Suspensions By GABRIEL MUÑOZ Sun City Editor
Following negotiations between demonstrators and the administration over the pro-Palestine Arts Quad encampment, four students have been temporarily suspended. Today at 3:08 p.m., the University notified the four students about their suspensions in an email obtained by The Sun signed by Christina Liang, director of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. Three of the suspended students were Bianca Waked grad, Momodou Taal grad and Nick Wilson ’26, confirmed in interviews with The Sun. The fourth suspended student declined to share their identity with The Sun. Taal and Waked are international students, meaning suspensions threaten their legal status in the country. Students are being charged with unauthorized use of University property by engaging in or facilitating outdoor camping on the Arts Quad without approval, failure to
comply with University directives to remove the unauthorized encampment, unreasonably loud chants and behavior, failure to disperse from the Arts Quad and staying past 8 p.m. on April 25 — the initial deadline to leave given by administrators. Waked, who is Deaf, was still charged with unreasonably loud behavior. The suspension is effective immediately, pending a resolution of the underlying
conduct action. According to the Cornell Student Code of Conduct, suspended students do not receive credit for their coursework the semester, class attendance, participation in examinations and utilization of University premises and facilities may be withdrawn. During the suspension period, the students will not be allowed on campus, except for special cases.
See SUSPENSIONS page 11
MING DEMERS / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Student suspensions | Momodou Taal grad and Nick Wilson ’26 are among the four suspended students.
By GABRIEL MUÑOZ Sun City Editor
On Monday, President Martha Pollack released her first email statement to the Cornell community since the establishment of the pro-Palestine student encampment last Thursday. Pollack condemned the protestors’ actions and warned of more disciplinary action. President Pollack described that on the first day of the demonstration, the administration initially offered for the protest to be moved between Day Hall and Sage Chapel under an approved permit. The statement said protestors were given multiple opportunities to consider the offer across a five-hour time span, but ultimately declined to move. Pollack said the protest was initially registered under a “dishonest” request, with the event falsely advertised as just an art installation without tents. The protesters had also only reserved the space until 8 p.m. In response to protestors' refusal to leave, four temporary suspensions were issued.
“With full knowledge of the sanctions to come, they again refused to comply, and we moved forward with a first set of immediate temporary suspensions,” Pollack said. The statement confirmed that the University administrators engaged in active negotiations with the protestors, including throughout the weekend, to again allow them to move to an alternate location. Pollack announced more temporary suspensions for students and human resources referrals for employees participating in the encampment are to come. “We must enforce our policies in a consistent manner,” Pollack said. “Our policies are content-neutral for a reason, and we need to apply them in the same way in all cases, both today and into the future.” To continue reading this story, please visit www.cornellsun.com Gabriel Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@ccornellsun.com.