INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 138, No. 19
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2021
n
8 Pages – Free
ITHACA, NEW YORK
Hiatus
Dining
Sports
Weather
Because of Cornell’s annual Fall Break vacation, the next print issue of The Sun will appear on Wednesday, Oct. 13.
AppleFest
Field Hockey
Partly Cloudy
The dining department explores the sights and smells of the popular Ithaca fall festival. | Page 5
The Red dominated Columbia 5-0 and edged out rival Colgate 4-3 to improve the season record to 6-3. | Page 8
HIGH: 77º LOW: 59º
Students Hold Rally For Undocumented Rights at Day Hall
Demands include greater legal assistance for DACA applicants, cutting ties with ICE By ANGELA BUNAY Sun Assistant News Editor
On Monday afternoon, around 40 students rallied for immigration Monday afternoon, around 40 students rallied for immigrant rights, demanding more legal services for undocumented students and an end to University contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The rally, held in front of Day Hall, was organized by the Cornell DREAM Team, who is demanding that the University provide free immigration legal services to students, dissolve ties with ICE and provide more administrative support for undocumented students. Protesters carried paper monarch butterflies as an immigrants rights symbol and signs reading “End the Contracts,” “Celebrate Undocumented Joy,” and “No one is illegal on stolen land,” while chanting “power to the people, no human is illegal,” and “humanity over nationality, people over profit.” See RALLY page 3
HANNAH ROSENBERG / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Protest signs | Cornellians rally in front of Day Hall on Monday, calling for greater University support for undocumented students.
JULIA NAGEL / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Chapel halls | Sage Chapel (pictured above) has reopened to the public after more than a year of renovation and repurposing work.
Cornellians Call for Supporting Sage Chapel Amid Reopening By MIHIKA BADJATE Sun Assistant News Editor
After more than a year of restoration and repurposing of the 146-year-old building, Sage Chapel officially reopened this September, inviting visitors into its amber and emerald hued gothic-style halls. The chapel, which houses the graves of Cornell’s founding figures, including Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, has opened its doors after serving as a testing site in fall 2020. But student organizations say they continue to have limited access to the building due to COVID risks, and community members emphasize the need for further renovations in the building and on its historic organ. Sage originally closed for repairs in summer 2020, but the renovation process was put on hold
when the building became a COVID-19 testing site the following fall. In spring 2021, it closed down again to complete renovations that included refinishing the pews and floors. During the chapel’s closure and repurposing, many student groups that have offices in the basement of the building lost access, including the Cornell Chorus and Cornell Glee Club — both of which have called Sage Chapel home for over 60 years and have rehearsed there for 107 years. Without their usual rehearsal space, both organizations have relocated to Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium in Klarman Hall, but have found rehearsing there to be a challenge. “It has been difficult to rehearse in the auditorium because the chapel is so special. It has a choir loft that’s built for singing, and its acoustics are See SAGE page 3
Vaccination Required for C.U. Staff Following Executive Order By TAMARA KAMIS Sun News Editor
Under a recent executive order, Cornell will require all Cornell employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8 — marking a shift from previous University policy that only encouraged faculty and staff to get their COVID vaccines. In a Wednesday email to faculty and staff, President Martha Pollack, Provost Michael Kotlikoff and Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Mary Opperman wrote that — without an approved religious or medical exemption — all staff need to be vaccinated because the University has multiple federal contracts covered under the executive order. This federal policy requires vaccination for all non-exempt employees of certain contractors that do business with the government, the email read. For Cornell faculty and staff who have yet to get vaccinated, employees must get both of their doses by Dec. 8 to
fulfill the requirement. “Unvaccinated employees should seek their first vaccine dose as soon as possible,” Pollack, Kotlikoff and Opperman wrote. Ninety-nine percent of faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students are vaccinated. But only 91 percent of non-faculty staff are vaccinated. Cornell has required vaccination for students since August, but has until now only strongly encouraged vaccination for employees. Vaccination is free, and faculty and staff can find a vaccination site through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Tompkins County Health Department websites. Cornell employees in New York State can get up to four paid hours off of work to get vaccinated. Fully vaccinated staff who have registered their vaccination with the University are in the clear. Cornell’s human resources department will contact those who have not yet been fully vaccinated and will provide information about the exemption process.
JIM WILSON / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Shots | Vaccination is now mandatory for all Cornell staff. “Full vaccination of our community will further protect all of us, particularly those most vulnerable,” the email read. Tamara Kamis can be reached at tkamis@cornellsun.com.