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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 141, No. 1
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TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2024 n ITHACA, NEW YORK
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Approved Amendments
On 'I'm Sorry'
Sweet Sweep
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Eve Lula '26 attempts to analyze her motivations for frequently apologizing.
Women's hockey advanced to the ECAC semifinals after a sweep of Quinnipiac, capped off by a dominant 5-0 win on Saturday.
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S.A. passed Resolution 59, which added a tabling requirement for S.A. candidates with a documented form of student engagement.
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CFI Rejects Ties to Proposed Sexual Violence Imitation By JULIA SENZON Sun Managing Editor
Students expressed outrage on social media over an event Cornellians for Israel had been accused of planning, claiming that the event would feature volunteers acting out a live imitation of Hamas’ sexual violence against Israeli women in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. CFI leadership denies that it planned to go forward with the event. The Coalition for Mutual Liberation — a pro-Palestinian umbrella organization that has hosted several demonstrations on campus — posted a statement on Wednesday, Feb. 28 condemning the pro-Israel group, accusing it of organizing an event that “risks
re-traumatizing members of the Cornell community who are survivors of sexual harassment and assault.” Despite CML’s assertion that the event was canceled due to “widespread condemnation from the Cornell and local community” on its Instagram story on Thursday, Feb. 29, Cornellians for Israel President Zoe Bernstein ’24 told The Sun the event was proposed and quickly rejected over February break, which ended one day before CML’s original post. Bernstein also said that the event was never affiliated with Cornellians for Israel and that an outside organization approached CFI, asking for its assistance in hosting the event. “There was never any official plan to hold the demonstration,”
MING DEMERS / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Demonstration denial | Cornellians for Israel was accused of planning an event featuring live imitation of Hamas' sexual violence against Israeli women in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, provoking outrage on social media.
Bernstein wrote in an email to The Sun. “The idea was posed to [the] CFI [executive] board and immediately rejected.”
In an Instagram statement on Thursday, the group asserted that they decided not to host the demonstration as they felt it was “not an
effective or thoughtful way to raise awareness and provide a meaningful educational opportunity.” See CFI page 3
S.A. Calls to Halt Recent Interim Expressive Policies
Members voice concerns about free speech regulations By DOROTHY FRANCE-MILLER Sun Staff Writer
JULIA NAGEL / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Faculty forum | Cornell professors disscus policy changes at the recent faculty forum meeting.
Faculty Members Criticize 'Chilling' Expressive Policy By CHRISTINA MacCORKLE Sun News Editor
Faculty members added to the chorus of discontentment towards Cornell’s Interim Expressive Activity Policy in a faculty forum meeting held over Zoom on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Introduced on Jan. 24, the policy imposes limits on student demonstrations, including requiring organizers to register outdoor events with more than 50 people in certain community spaces and limiting the use of amplified sound systems. Students, faculty, alumni and scholars have condemned the interim policy, questioning its implications for students’ right to protest and noting selective enforcement of the rules.
The Wednesday forum was moderated by Prof. Eve De Rosa, psychology, who is also the dean of faculty. The University introduced the Interim Expressive Activity Policy in response to an investigation by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, Rosa explained. The investigation includes six other educational institutions besides Cornell and is in connection with antisemitic and anti-Muslim harassment. The complaints against Cornell brought by the OCR are for alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination “based on race, color or national origin.” See FORUM page 4
Amid concerns from the Cornell community about the University’s Interim Expressive Activity Policy, the Student Assembly unanimously passed Resolution 58 on Feb. 22, which called for the policy’s suspension. The S.A. requested that the University suspend this policy until a process for formal consultation with the University assemblies is finalized. Introduced on Jan. 24 to regulate expressive activity on campus, the Interim Expressive Activity Policy restricts the use of amplified sound, expects registration for all indoor events and outdoor events with more than 50 people in certain community spaces and prohibits postering on trees or outside structures, among other regulations. Members of the S.A. previously expressed concerns about the limitations of free expression on campus, with many speaking out at the Feb. 15 meeting. Resolution 58 describes the S.A.’s intentions to introduce means for undergraduate constituents to effectively solicit feedback and engage in discussion about the interim policy prior to the end of the 2024 Spring semester. It also calls for the policy to be suspended until a process for formal consultation with the Cornell assemblies is agreed upon.
The shared governance of Cornell is made up of the Employee Assembly, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, the S.A., the University Assembly, the constituent-elected members of the Board of Trustees and the Faculty Senate, which contribute to the school’s legislative process. According to the Office of the Assemblies’ home page, the assemblies “formally advise the administration and recommend changes to policies through legislative processes articulated in their respective charters.” However, multiple Cornell assemblies including the S.A. and Faculty Senate have claimed they were not adequately consulted in the creation of the Interim Expression Activity Policy. Faculty Senate member Prof. Risa Lieberwitz, industrial and labor relations, spoke on this lack of consultation in an interview with The Sun. “There should have been a lot more recognition that the existing governance bodies of the Faculty Senate and the S.A. and the Employee Assembly were not consulted, and instead this full-blown interim policy was brought to the University Assembly as basically a fait accompli,” Lieberwitz said. To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com. Dorothy France-Miller can be reached at dfrancemiller@cornellsun.com.