Cornell allows pro-Palestine activist to continue studies after anti-Israel protests, restoring visa amid controversy
Cornell University decided not to suspend pro-Palestine activist Momodou Taal, allowing him to continue his studies remotely, despite his involvement in disruptive anti-Israel protests that violated campus policies.
Although Taal faced potential deportation, his student visa has been restored following protests and a petition in his support.
Cornell University has decided not to suspend Momodou Taal, the pro-Palestine student activist from the United Kingdom who was previously set to be deported due to his involvement in a disruptive anti-Israel demonstration in September.
Taal was involved in a Sept. 18 career fair protest at Cornell, during which student activists disrupted the event in an effort to protest Boeing’s involvement due to the company’s connections with Israel.
The Cornell administration stated that the protesters at the career fair demonstration “screamed into bullhorns and banged cymbals, pots and pans, resulting in medical complaints of potential hearing loss.”
Taal has now been informed that he will not be suspended or removed from his courses this semester, according to The Ithaca Voice. However, Taal will not be allowed to access Cornell’s campus and will have to do schoolwork remotely.
However, he is now shielded from deportation.
“No matter what happens, the result is not going to be disenrollment, which would trigger the immigration consequences,” said Eric Lee, Taal’s immigration lawyer. “He’s allowed to continue doing his dissertation work.”
Taal was previously suspended during the spring semester for participating in an anti-Israel encampment that student activists erected at the university’s campus.
“The actions of identified faculty or staff have been referred to human resources and their colleges according to Cornell’s conduct policies,” a Cornell spokesperson told The Ithaca Voice about the career fair protest. “Three identified students also have been arrested for criminal offenses by the Cornell University Police Department and referred to the Ithaca City Court.”
Cornell administrators initially decided to revoke Taal’s visa following his second suspension for participating in anti-Israel demonstrations.
The university stated that the career fair protesters’ behavior was “unacceptable, a violation of university policy, and illegal,” and that “[t]hese individuals will also be subject to potential criminal charges.”
10,000 individuals recently signed a petition on Taal’s behalf, demanding the university restore his student visa despite his multiple suspensions.
Taal’s threatened deportation also led to protests in his support at Cornell, according to The New York Sun.
Below is a statement that Cornell requested be included in full:
”As previously outlined in a statement by Interim President Kotlikoff, Cornell has a robust, multi-step process to render both interim measures and final resolutions in situations where students are alleged to have violated the Student Code of Conduct. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the records of individual students and bars institutions from discussing specific conduct cases. Additionally, Cornell does not disclose details of individual faculty or staff referred for disciplinary review.
To date, Cornell has identified 19 individuals who disrupted university operations as part of a protest that shut down the September 18 career fair sponsored by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at the Statler Hotel.
Identified students referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (OSCCS) were informed of interim measures of both an academic and non-academic nature designed to protect the community from repeated actions. The actions of identified faculty or staff have been referred to human resources and their colleges according to Cornell’s conduct policies. Three identified students also have been arrested for criminal offenses by the Cornell University Police Department and referred to the Ithaca City Court.
Interim measures issued by OSCCS are a first step, with students having the right to appeal the interim measures, and they may resolve the referral through discussions with OSCCS. Interim measures remain in place to protect the university community, including protecting ongoing activities essential to the mission of the university, as a conduct case continues to be processed toward full resolution by OSCCS. For those who are subject to interim measures, any action is pending full resolution of Cornell’s student conduct process that fully adjudicates any allegations of code violations as the final step of the process.”
