INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 134, No. 21 News Until Next Time
The Sun’s next print issue will appear next Wednesday, October 11. Check cornellsun.com to keep up with campus news.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
Arts
Sports
Weather
Scary Stuff
Role Models
Partly Sunny HIGH: 73º LOW: 51º
Cornell football reflects on the recent stirring of NFL protests.
Happy Death Day is good enough, but not outstanding, says Ruby Que ’20. | Page 9
| Page 16
Grads Highlight Camp-Out Raises Disaster Aid Funds Diversity Issues After Knee-in Protest
By MICHELLE ABRAMOWITZ Sun Contributor
Huddled around their hammocks, tents and sleeping bags, students camped out on the Arts Quad on Tuesday night to show their solidarity with people struck by recent natural disasters around the world. The camp-out was organized shortly after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria ravaged through the Caribbean and the southern coast of the United States, affecting many members of the Cornell community and their families. “It has definitely taken a huge toll on everyone on campus,” Ashley Kim ’19 said. “Because it’s affecting our peers and the campus community as a whole, it’s a very emotional thing for the entire student body.” Cornell Outdoor Education, one of the event’s sponsors, rented out sleeping bags and tents for students who stayed overnight, while some students brought their own supplies. The event was free, but students could contribute to the charitable fund for borrowing camping supplies. Event volunteers ran a raffle booth with prizes including tickets to the Homecoming concert, featuring the band Foster the People, and gift cards to help raise additional funds for the cause. Students were welcome to use provided glow sticks and
light-up hula hoops and Frisbees, which illuminated the nighttime sky. Some students who attended the camp-out had friends and family struck by the disasters and their devastating aftermath. Tati Guzman ’18 said her family in South Florida and friends in Puerto Rico and Houston were struck by the hurricanes. “They’re going through a rough time. I’m keeping in contact with them,” Guzman said. “I have distant family who were in Florida and were affected by the hurricane,” said Germeen Kilada ’18, another student at the camp-out. “There’s some damage to their house and they just fixed it up two years ago from the previous hurricane.” Students could donate to three different relief agencies at the event: Nepal, India and Bangladesh Flood Relief through GlobalGiving; Unidos por Puerto Rico; and Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Galveston-Houston. Organizers of the camp-out selected those agencies after researching their effectiveness and impact. “We did a lot of research to try to find organizations that were impactful and had good reputations in the area, ” said Zoe Maisel ’18, one of the event organizers. The locations were chosen to represent different geo-
See CAMP-OUT page 4
Raffle for relief | Students camp out on the Arts Quad and raised money for disaster relief through raffles and donations. CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
By EMMA NEWBURGER Sun Assistant News Editor
The GPSA Diversity and International Student Committee gathered graduate and professional students to discuss Cornell’s campus climate following multiple racial incidents — including the alleged assault of a black student in Collegetown — and the lack of involvement from University departments on issues of hate speech and violence on campus. Students said that only one STEM professor was part of the faculty coalition that organized last week’s Take a Knee protest, where hundreds “STEM seems to of professors, staff, students and locals took to consider itself sepathe Arts Quad to kneel in rate from issues of solidarity with professionrace, gender and al athletes and Cornell students who have been oppression.” protesting violence Stephen Kim, grad against black Americans in Ithaca and around the country. The STEM department’s lack of involvement in the protest reflects the department’s general silence on issues of race and diversity on campus, students said. “Departments like Latina/o Studies, Africana Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and Asian American Studies should not be the only departments engaging with these issues,” Stephen Kim, grad, said. “STEM seems to consider itself separate from issues of race, gender and oppression.” Students were also frustrated about the administration’s lack of compensation for graduate students who feel burdened with addressing issues of race and See GPSA page 4
Professor Has No Regrets After Controversial Chant
Historic recognition
By JOHN YOON Sun Assistant News Editor
“I never assume that most people share my politics,” Prof. Russell Rickford, history, told The Sun. Activist and scholar of black American history, Rickford joined Black Lives Matter in Ithaca in 2015 and became a founding member of Cornell Coalition for Inclusive Democracy last year, which led protests demanding the University to protect and support international Cornellians in March. More recently, and more controversially, at a knee-in last Wednesday following the professional athletes and Cornell students who had been protesting racial violence, Rickford led the chant See RICKFORD page 4
MICHAEL WENYE LI / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
BETH SPERGEL FOR CITY OF ITHACA
The Ithaca Common Council voted 8-2 yesterday to approve local historic landmark designation for the Larkin Building at 403 College Avenue (center). The 1913 structure was the home of one of College Avenue’s earliest groceries. Check cornellsun.com for updates.