11-20-24 entire issue hi res by The Cornell Daily Sun

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Kraig Kayser’s ‘Major Confict of Interest’

Te Board of Trustees chair also serves on the Board of Directors of weapons manufacturer Moog

By KATE TURK Sun Contributor

Nov. 19 — Cornell Board of Trustees Chair Kraig Kayser MBA ’84 holds a seat on the Board of Directors of Moog and has millions personally invested in the weapons manufacturing company.

Kayser’s role has raised concerns among campus activists about a potential conﬂict of interest as the University rejects student-led calls for divestment from weapons manufacturers involved in the Israel-Hamas war.

Here is what to know about Moog and Kayser.

Moog is an aerospace and defense company based in Elma, New York, with production and sales offices in 25 countries, including Israel. The company manufacturers essential flight control systems for F-35 fighter jets — the same warplanes that have been used in Israeli assaults on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon this year.

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, Moog’s revenue has skyrocketed, and the price of its shares has nearly doubled. In a Nov. 1 earnings call, Moog Chief Executive Ofﬁcer Pat Roche said, “We delivered record sales. We have a record 12-month backlog,” citing later in the call “ongoing conﬂicts in Ukraine and the Middle East” when describing an uptick in the company’s defense sector sales.

‘Tere’s a Lot of Pressure Right Now’: Cornellians Shaken by Tragic Week

By MARYAM ISMAIL Sun Contributor

Nov. 14 — Cornell students are grappling with a series of tragedies that have left the campus shaken. In the past week, Winter Knutson ’27 was found dead in Fall Creek Gorge, a student was hospitalized after falling in the same area, a report of drugging and sexual assault at the Chi Phi house led to the fraternity’s suspension and a Cornell custodian was charged with second-degree murder in an Ithaca homicide.

Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi sent an email statement to the Cornell community on Monday highlighting resources for students and encouraging them to “lean on each other and show support, empathy and care to each other.” But many found the University’s response disappointing.

“The administration’s response seemed very impersonal and perfunctory to me,” said Ananya Prasad ’27, an Ithaca local who attended Ithaca High School alongside Knutson. “If just one of the three tragedies that happened over the weekend occurred, I think it still would’ve warranted a longer and more in-depth email.”

Prasad told The Sun that she hoped the administration would give students a “mental health day,” an idea that has gained traction among Cornell students on social media sites like Sidechat over the past few days. She added that it would be “a proactive way to support us, even though it obviously wouldn’t solve all mental health problems on campus.”

Peter John Loewen, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, told The Sun that Cornell’s administration rejected the mental health day idea. “They’ve done it in the past,” Loewen said. “But they took that decision not to provide it.”

Loewen hosted a community meeting Wednesday evening for members of arts and sciences — the college in which Knutson was enrolled and in which their father, Prof.

Allen Knutson, mathematics, teaches — “to process events of the past week.”

“There’s a lot of pressure right now,” Loewen said in an interview right after the meeting concluded. “It’s a combination of the normal stress of being a Cornell student, the political events in the U.S. and these recent, terribly tragic events.”

“Most of us professors here have kids, right? So you think about what that’s like if you have a kid who was harmed on campus, or a kid who was the victim of a terrible accident, or a kid who felt that the dark waters had risen so high,” Loewen said. “It’s terrible, right? But I didn’t lose a kid. So I’m very thankful for that.”

Students told The Sun that they have been grappling with stress all week.

“The environment has deﬁnitely felt very anxiety-ridden and tense,” said Alia Amer ’26, an undergraduate resident fellow and peer mentor at William Keeton House. “Most of the people I’ve spoken with have felt like they’ve had to fend for themselves and haven’t received much support.”

The weight of recent events has been difﬁcult for Mariam Saad ’27 to process. “When I go to classes and talk to classmates, it’s odd how things are brought up in conversation as if it’s just the next drama or rumor to be talked about,” Saad said. “We don’t get a chance to process one thing before something else happens.”

For Amer, the resources highlighted in Lombardi’s email felt insufﬁcient. “Lombardi’s response kind of felt like he only addressed the situation because he was required to,” Amer said. “It’s the same resources we see on bulletin boards.” Amer added that “there needs to be more communication about what the administration plans to do to help students rather than just throwing QR codes and links at us.”

Kayser — who owns more than 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $6.9 million as of market close on Tuesday — has seen his investment in Moog grow by millions over the last year. “And potentially more,” said Derek Seidman, a contributing writer for corporate watchdog LittleSis, pointing to Kayser’s stock appreciation rights, which pay in stock or cash when Moog’s stock climbs over a preset period of time.

Kayser has served as a director of Moog since 1998, more than twice as long as he has held a seat on Cornell’s Board of Trustees. As one of 10 Moog directors, he is responsible for helping oversee the company and make important decisions about the strategy and future of Moog. Seidman described Kayser’s 26-year term with Moog as bordering on unusually long, adding that it speaks to his “close relationship with the company” in an interview with The Sun.

Kayser also receives a six-ﬁgure salary from Moog for his work as a director. Last ﬁscal year, Kayser chaired every executive session and was paid more than $200,000 in cash and Moog stocks.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

IFC Suspended Social Activity Last Weekend

By MATTHEW KIVIAT Sun News Editor

Nov. 15 — Following a recent report of sexual assault and drugging that led to Chi Phi’s suspension, Cornell’s Interfraternity Council voted unanimously during a Thursday evening meeting to suspend all Greek Life social events for the weekend.

In the IFC’s ofﬁcial statement, posted on its Instagram page, the organization announced the voluntary weekend suspension and said it is committed to the “health and safety” of members and guests and that “all forms of sexual misconduct” are unacceptable. The statement also explained that the organization extends its “sincerest sympathies to the survivor(s).”and I loved the environment — it was a very familiar space for me.”or a comment card, which is effective but I think it can sometimes be challenging on our end to respond and it also doesn’t give us the data that we need.”

Inside Thursday’s Meeting

At around 6 p.m. on Thursday, around 100 leaders from all 29 chapters of the IFC met for several hours to discuss how to respond to the Chi Phi suspension and repair Greek life’s image on campus, according to two IFC members who were present and requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive conversation.

“We were all brought in under the pretense that we were deciding an appropriate solution to display that IFC cares about the situation. … All the risk managers, presidents and socials of all the fraternities [were there],” one of the IFC sources told The Sun.

After demanding that the IFC work toward a “solution,” IFC Adviser Kathleen Wilhite left the room, leaving the student leaders to deliberate among themselves, the sources said.

The IFC members then drew up multiple plans. One was for each fraternity to contribute $1,000 to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Safety Club. $7,000 was pledged by various chapters within minutes. Those in attendance also proposed to suspend all Greek life social activity for the weekend, mandate SAP training for every fraternity and host a community event on Saturday advocating for SAP, according to the sources. Plans for a community event on Saturday fell apart due to logistical concerns brought up at the meeting, with many in attendance saying they “found it difﬁcult to do” given concerns about ﬁnding a space in a short amount of time, one source said.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Kayser’s conﬂict | Kayser’s shares in weapons manufacturer Moog have nearly doubled in value since the start of the Israel-Hamas War on Oct. 7, 2023.

SUNBURSTS: Community and Resilience

Following several campus tragedies in recent weeks, Te Sun’s photography department collected images representing community resilience throughout the fall semester.

By SUN PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT

HO PLAZA LIGHTS | On Nov. 14, Cornell Minds Matter and Student and Campus Life hosted “Light Up the Season,” where students gathered to celebrate the approaching winter season.

COMFY COLLABORATION | Students found comfort in collaboration by working together in the Physical Sciences Building on Nov. 14.

GSH KINDNESS | A sign found in one of the hallways of Goldwin Smith Hall on Nov. 19 reads, “Be proud of the work you do, the person you are, and the difference you make.”

PHOTOSGIVING | The photography department was also at Sunsgiving. They enjoyed posing behind the camera for once. Photography Editor Ming DeMers (right) brought his famous Tibetan cookies.

BUS STOP NOTES | Cornellians spread kindness by sharing positive words on sticky notes outside of Bus Stop Bagels on Nov. 19.

WORLD KINDNESS DAY | World Kindness Day, an international celebration on Nov. 13, led Cornellians to leave sticky notes on a poster.

IGNITE | Cornellians also found community through spaces such as Ignite, a Christian worship night held on Nov. 15 in Sage Chapel.

SUNSGIVING | Sunnies celebrated an early Thanksgiving at the downtown ofﬁce on Nov. 16.

Ming DeMers/Sun Photography Editor

Photo Leilani Burke/Sun Assistant Photography Editor

Matthew Korniczky/Sun Staf Photographer

Ming DeMers/Sun Photography Editor

Jaein Ku/Sun Staf Photographer)

(Ming DeMers/Sun Photography Editor

Dorothy France-Miller/Sun News Editor Dorothy France-Miller/Sun News Editor

S.A. Creates Guidelines for Mental Health Days, Criticizes Administration

By KENDALL EDDINGTON Sun Contributor

Nov. 17 — The Student Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday to implement guidelines for campus-wide community restorative days in response to student deaths and sexual assault Crime Alerts.

Resolution 17 follows a string of campus tragedies in the past week, including a report of drugging and sexual assault at the Chi Phi house, a student found dead in Fall Creek Gorge and a student hospitalized after falling in the same area.

S.A. members expressed disappointment in what they see as an inadequate administrative response to these events, echoing student discontentment and calls for a “mental health day.”

The only communication sent to the entire student body was an email from Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi where he urged the Cornell community to “lean on each other and show support, empathy and care to each other,” provided links to counseling and victim advocacy resources and announced a campus-wide community support meeting held last Tuesday.

“Shame on you, shame on you,” Student Health Advisory Committee Chair Davian Gekman ’27 said in reaction to the administrative response.

V.P. of Finance Niles Hite ’26 explained that he hopes passing Resolution 17 following this week’s events will set a good precedent for the administrative responses to future tragedies.

“As hard as we work, as much as we go through in general, it can be a really stressful environment and then to have outside factors also contribute to that the least that people deserve is a mental health day,” Hite said.

In recognition of how these tragic events have negatively impacted the “mental, emotional, and physical health of the student population,” Resolution 17 seeks to create a written precedent for future responses to tragic events. A community restorative day would be granted in the event of a student death or a sexual assault Crime Alert.

“Everyone needs time to slow down, take in what’s happened and be able to kind of reset … and have that time to process it,” said V.P. of Diversity and Inclusion Christian Flournoy ’27.

CGSU Rallies For De-Enrolled Pro-Palestinian Grad Student

By ANGELINA TANG Sun Contributor

Nov. 16 — Around 100 protesters rallied outside Mann Library on Friday in support of suspended pro-Palestinian graduate student Sriram Parasurama, who was recently de-enrolled from the University over his participation in the Sept. 18 career fair shutdown. The rally was organized by graduate students in the School of Integrated Plant Sciences in collaboration with Cornell Graduate Students United.

Speakers at the rally claimed that Parasurama has not been afforded due process and just cause, as CGSU continues to bargain with Cornell’s administration over his case.

Parasurama was arrested on Oct. 9 on two charges stemming from the career fair disruption and appeared in court on Nov. 6 alongside two other students, where he pleaded not guilty. He was also issued a three-year campus ban and recently de-enrolled from the University altogether, according to the Coalition for Mutual Liberation.

According to a letter from Parasurama that was read at the rally, the administration has considered him “a danger to public health and safety.” His three-year fellowship with the National Science Foundation is at risk of being revoked since his de-enrollment. As of right now, he cannot continue his research, other speakers explained.

The CGSU rally featured Parasurama’s peers in the School of Integrative Plant Science. Parasurama’s graduate classmates Olga Khmelnitsky and Katie Rohrbaugh led the event and introduced speakers.

A crowd of about 50 people gathered at 3 p.m. on the Tsujimoto Family Plaza, but it grew to approximately 100 by the time the rally ﬁnished at roughly 4:30 p.m. Demonstrators were provided with signs and noisemakers such as pots and pans by organizers, and they were also given informational handouts about CGSU and a list of chants.

The organizers began with a land acknowledgment and discussed the difﬁcult events that have happened in the past week on campus, including a report of sexual assault and drugging at a fraternity and the death of a Cornell sophomore. They thanked the attendees for coming to show support for Parasurama, standing in front of signs that said “Hands off Sriram” and “Scientists Rise Up!”

A total of nine people spoke, including many graduate students, a professor and a local community member. Khmelnitsky and Rohrbaugh led chants between speeches.

The speakers criticized the University’s treatment of Parasurama’s case. Prof. Begüm Adalet, government, called it “draconian” and “without due process.” She also further criticized the University as a whole for “not protecting” its students.

Other speakers repeated this sentiment, saying that they need “just cause,” emphasizing that this was only Parasurama’s ﬁrst Student Code of Conduct violation and that the University must follow the terms outlined in CGSU’s Memorandum of Agreement. The MOA was approved in July 2024 and requires the University to bargain with CGSU over any disciplinary action against graduate students that impacts their working conditions.

Ph.D. candidate Sophia Taborski

accused the University of “censorship” and compared how it ended Parasurama’s academic progress with the Nazi regime expelling “politically undesirable” faculty from universities.

Speakers also acknowledged that Parasurama’s case was ultimately tied back to the pro-Palestine protest for divestment. “We know it is ultimately about Palestine,” Taborski said.

Speakers and organizers also encouraged people to participate in a silent study-in at Mann Library at 3 p.m. on Nov. 19 to protest the University’s “censorship of pro-Palestine activism” and “to show support for divestment.”

At the end of the rally, Mary Anne Grady Flores, a member of Ithaca Catholic Worker, encouraged attendees to call in and contact their senators to

block $20 billion in offensive weaponry going to Israel.

Ultimately, organizers reafﬁrmed that the primary focus of the rally was meant to support Parasurama, urging people to support him as they dispersed.

CSGU’s bargaining with the University is still ongoing, according to Khmelnitsky and Rohrbaugh. They are working for Parasurama to receive “basic just cause and basic due process” and “hope that” Parasurama knows that “the community is with him”.

“The administration is not here for us,” Khmelnitsky said. “It starts with Sriram, but it ends with all of us.

Angelina Tang can be reached at at964@cornell.edu.

Kendall Eddington can be reached at kle53@cornell.edu.

SHABAZ WALI / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Parasurama protest | CGSU rallies outside Mann Library to support graduate student Sriram Parasurama, condemning a supposed lack of due processing in his de-enrollment.

Common Council Approves $106 Million Budget for 2025

Nov. 14 — The $106 million budget for the ﬁscal year 2025 passed at Wednesday’s meeting after multiple amendments to cut pieces of the budget failed to pass.

This marks a nearly ﬁve percent increase from last year’s $101 million budget. The city on Sept. 4 approved increasing the rate for property taxes past the limit set by New York State law.

Next year’s budget allocates funding to all city staff positions and sets the hiring of seven new Ithaca Police Department members. In addition, there are several capital projects funding development, non-proﬁt organizations and a $50,000 study into reparations in Ithaca. The proposal was sponsored by Alderperson Phoebe Brown (D-First Ward) and Alderperson Kayla Matos (D-First Ward) — members of the Solidarity Slate which also launched a petition signed by 150 people.

Multiple community members asked the council to reconsider the tax levy at the Nov. 6 Common Council meeting, arguing that the proposed tax hikes of 14 percent were not sustainable. The council had tabled the ﬁnal vote on the budget at its Nov. 6 meeting to consider additional cuts. Seven additional community members spoke at the public comment section of the Wednesday meeting arguing against the proposed cuts.

“The burden of this budget is going to fall primarily on single-family homeowners and single-family home renters,” said resident David Barken. “I don’t have the answers here but perceptibly you need to at some point acknowledge the limits of this community.”

In response to these criticisms, Alderperson David Shapiro (D-Third Ward) proposed multiple amendments — some throughout the past week — to cut over $900,000 from the city budget. Most of these cuts would come from defunding major positions like the city attorney, the superintendent of public works, the deputy city controller, the deputy director of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center and the deputy director of the city’s planning department.

25 speakers, composed of city workers and community members, condemned the proposed cuts by saying that city workers felt insulted.

Superintendent of Public Works Michael Thorne heavily criticized both Shapiro and Alderperson Margaret Fabrizio (D-Fifth Ward) — who have repeatedly proposed sharp cuts to the budget — and called their questioning of city staff in emails and at meetings as “insulting” and “demoralizing.”

“The reasons they provide [for the cuts] indicate either an outstanding level of ignorance or else a complete lack of

maturity,” Thorne said. “Council has become an embarrassment for this city, its reputation is being brought down by two alderpersons and their behavior should not be tolerated by other alderpersons and staff. Enough is enough.”

Fabrizio withdrew an amendment that would reduce funds for GIAC by $250,000 which would take from ﬁnancial support designated for creating a community kitchen at the former Red and White Cafe. However, she clariﬁed that she did not initially understand it was a matching grant from the state that only needed partial support from the city.

“I think it is an important investment in our community and I’m not going to be the person at the end of the line saying, ‘Well I don’t like it so sorry about all the work you’ve done, that’s not our job,’” Alderperson Clyde Lederman ’26 (D-Fifth Ward) said.

Brown and Matos introduced a proposal to delay the hiring of seven IPD officers for the upcoming year to December 2025. Three officers are set to onboard in January and four are set to onboard in July under the current budget. The positions would have to be filled earlier than December to ensure the department was not understaffed to keep up with anticipated retirements according to IPD Chief Thomas Kelly.

“We are below critical levels, and when we talk about being able to ascertain grant funding and a number of different programs that are out there, we are not able to attain grant money because we can’t meet the basic levels [of stafﬁng] to get there,” Kelly said.

The proposal failed by a vote of eight to three, with Matos, Brown and Shapiro voting in favor of the delayed hiring.

Brown criticized the council’s inaction to take concrete steps to explore an alternative security force that is not the police department arguing the council was not taking the needs of the community seriously, citing the three-year-old efforts to reimagine public safety that have not led to significant police reform.

“Reimagining public safety comes up whenever it is convenient,” Brown said. “Yes we want police ofﬁcers riding bikes and saying ‘hi’ and doing the things we need them to do, but most importantly, we want them to understand the harm we feel that has not been addressed yet, not to the people I talk to on the street, so for me, my heart breaks that we couldn’t even consider that.”

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Faculty Senate Defends Academic Freedom

By TALIA RICHMOND

Contributor

Nov. 14 — The Faculty Senate discussed a report detailing proposed changes to Cornell’s expressive activity policies and a resolution condemning Joel Malina, vice president for University relations, for “violations of academic freedom” during its meeting on Wednesday.

Colleen L. Barry, dean of the Brooks School of Public Policy, shared a draft report from the Cornell Committee on Expressive Activity that evaluates and recommends changes to Cornell’s existing expressive activity policies. Barry’s presentation, which prompted concerns related to faculty academic freedom, was particularly relevant in the context of the Faculty Senate’s continued discussion of Malina’s statement during a Sept. 30 meeting with Jewish parents that faculty members’ “in-class activities will be scrutinized.”

The CCEA’s draft report was released to the Cornell community on Oct. 30 for open comment, and the committee is currently seeking input from Cornell’s shared governance bodies. The proposed policy recommends measures for expressive activity, noting time, place and manner restrictions; disciplinary measures for students, faculty and staff; and potential consideration of enacting institutional neutrality or restraint.

Prof. Richard Bensel, government, criticized the report’s particular focus on student protests, explaining the importance of protecting faculty academic freedom in light of recent administrative actions.

Bensel speciﬁcally cited Malina’s comments and a recent incident where Interim Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff “stated that he was ‘extremely disappointed’ by the decision of a curriculum committee to approve a course because he did not like the content.”

“Any set of regulations on expressive activity must include procedures under which high ofﬁcials of the central administration are constrained if they attempt to overhaul faculty in and out of the classroom,” Bensel said.

Given that the CCEA was formed by current University leadership, Bensel also questioned the legitimacy of the CCEA as a “defender of academic freedom,” suggesting that “it would perhaps be best to restart this process with a more democratically elected committee.”

Prof. Risa Lieberwitz, industrial and labor relations; Prof. Begüm Adalet, government; and Knight Institute senior lecturer Darlene Evans echoed support for the call for a democratically elected committee.

Prof. Charlie Green, literature, expressed staunch opposition to the policy, stating, “I don’t see why the expressive policy exists other than to threaten and punish political groups on campus. … I don’t think that the policy represents what protest is about and does not reﬂect what universities are.”

Other faculty members raised concerns about the policy’s broad deﬁnition of “disruption,” suggesting that language that references safety and disruption could be interpreted in a manner that would place signiﬁcant constraints on expressive activity.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

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Kraig Kayser, Resign!

Just about everyone, whether left or right, wants the Israel-Gaza war to end — except those whose net worths depend on it. One such war proﬁteer is Kraig Kayser MBA ’84, the chair of Cornell’s Board of Trustees and arguably the most powerful ﬁgure in University affairs.

Kayser is a director and major shareholder at Moog, a weapons manufacturer that makes essential ﬂight control systems for F-35 ﬁghter jets — the same warplanes that have been used in Israeli assaults on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon this year.

Moog’s earnings have soared since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, with the price of the company’s shares nearly doubling. Kayser owns more than 30,000 shares in the company, worth $6.9 million at time of publication. Since the war in Gaza broke out, Kayser has seen his investment in Moog skyrocket by millions.

It’s bad enough that Kayser is proﬁting off the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, 70 percent of whom have been women and children, according to a report this month from the United Nations. What makes it all the more unconscionable is that, while building his fortune off of war, Kayser leads Cornell’s Board of Trustees, the highest governing body at our University.

As chair, Kayser has an outsized role in appointing the president and provost. He sits on every chartered committee, including the investment committee, which oversees all of the University’s investment decisions.

That’s crucially important at a time when divestment from weapons manufacturers is the hottest issue on campus. More than two-thirds of student voters in last spring’s referendum called on the University to cut ﬁnancial ties with defense companies involved in the Israel-Gaza war, including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, with which Moog has held wealthy contracts in recent years.

How can we expect a merchant of death to respond in good faith to anti-war students when his paycheck at Moog is on the line?

The chair of the Board of Trustees should be an exemplar for the Cornell community — a leader who is worth looking up to and who can be trusted with the most sensitive University decisions.

Kayser is clearly not that person.

As a man proﬁting off of the scholasticide in Gaza — the destruction of every single university in the territory — he has no place in a leadership position at this University, no less one of the most powerful roles. In a just world, Cornell would shun alumni like Kayser, not give them the keys to the castle. The Sun has exactly one thing to say to our esteemed chairman: Resign!

- The Editorial Board

Carlin Reyen

Carlin Reyen is a fourth year student in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her fortnightly column Just Carlin’ It Like It Is centers around student life, social issues, Cornell life hacks and the University’s interactions with the broader community.

Let’s Hold Rapists Accountable

To the rapists of Chi Phi: while you can flee your house when it gets egged and spray-painted, the person whose autonomy you stripped has to live with the trauma for a lifetime. It is telling that you are more upset about the violation of your property than your complicity in depriving a human being of autonomy over her own body. I’m a pacifist by nature, but forgive me if I find that perhaps a sliver of justice was served when Chi Phi was defaced by Riot Moon activists.

Rape is a culture issue, one deeply rooted in Cornell’s Greek life system. In May, I wrote about the dangerous group-think and predatory elements of frat culture in the wake of TDX’s use of date rape drugs and sexual violence against women. And yet, in September, I was deeply troubled to see that rape reports at Cornell increased once again. I’ve seen commenters on Sidechat in recent days writing that students not directly affected by this particular incident of assault don’t have the right to be affected emotionally. I vehemently disagree with this take — sexual violence affects all Cornellians, not just the direct victims.

Empathy is what makes us human, and a member of our community experiencing great, preventable harm at the hands of other Cornell students is deeply saddening. It’s highly likely that most women on campus are deeply shaken by the alert that we received. Although this was one incident, everyone has someone they love who has been affected by sexual assault. Just because we’re not directly involved in this horriﬁc incident doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognize how deeply wrong it is and demand better. There needs to be more empathy for survivors and more accountability for perpetrators on this campus, full stop.

Ever since the crime alert came out, students on campus have created — and spread — their own narratives about what happened. It’s one thing to express outrage and horror at the male entitlement that reared its ugly head when a gang rape occurred on our campus. Certainly, I needed time to process the emotionally painful news with friends, as I’m sure many students did.

But it’s completely different — and dangerous — to engage in the victim blaming and shaming rhetoric that is prevalent within campus social circles, especially Greek life. Sexual violence is the only crime where victims are consistently demonized at such a large scale. And it’s not just men. Far too many women on campus also play a role in furthering false narratives, casting doubt on survivors’ reporting and defending perpetrators. I’ve seen in my four years here how the grapevine is used to defame SA victims on this campus, and I have a few things to say, namely, someone’s assault is not your gossip.

Stop sowing doubt about the validity of a survivor’s story. It was difﬁcult enough for them to come forward. Believe victims. Please. Even if you don’t know them and even if you don’t like them. The details of their assault are not for you to analyze and poke holes inTheir previous sexual history has noth-

ing, I repeat nothing, to do with their credibility. (It’s also none of your business.)

I can tell you this: no one goes through the Title IX system who is not serious about their assault. It is a broken system that so rarely delivers substantive justice to survivors anyways. Since my sophomore year, I have worked on national Title IX research and seen outcome trends for those who do choose to report. The overwhelming majority of complaints are closed due to insufﬁcient evidence. This background leaves me deeply skeptical: simply put, I don’t trust the University to protect survivors appropriately.

Institutionally, the Title IX system — and our University at large — fails survivors. Students have attested as much. Reporting is statistically retraumatizing for victims and occurs at a bureaucratically slow pace, muddling the testimonies of witnesses as time passes. Survivors are picked apart by their peers and case adjudicators, and too often do not attain any semblance of justice. With this in mind, I completely agree with Riot Moon’s statement that police and the Cornell administration cannot be trusted to keep us safe.

It’s sad, though unsurprising, that there’s as much outrage against activism by anti-rape activists as there is against the crime itself. Whether or not you agree with how Riot Moon’s activism was demonstrated, they called it like it is: fraternities are “mass perpetrators of sexual violence on campus,” and the University needs to stop being afraid of losing alumni donors by pretending like it’s just a few bad apples. How can Cornell be a safe environment when rapists are allowed to walk around campus and attend classes and social events?

Cornell has taken a hard stance on protestors that used force against police ofﬁcers at the career fair, suspending them from campus for advocating for their beliefs. In the same vein, then, logically, the perpetrators of the horriﬁc act that occurred on Oct. 25 should be expelled for drugging and gang raping a member of our community. They can not be given the opportunity to reoffend when research shows that 87 percent of alcohol-related campus sexual violence is committed by repeat offenders. Letting rapists off the hook or giving them a slap on the wrist just provides the immunity to continue to perpetuate sexual violence onto other victims. And if Riot Moon is penalized for their actions before the rapists, Cornell will prove exactly what they value most: property and privilege, while not respecting student wellbeing. Rather than allowing administrators to adjudicate with skewed interests, as a campus community, we must talk about accountability from the bottom up.

The activists put it best in their letter: “We no longer tolerate a culture that teaches men to rape, the use of sexual violence to subjugate others, or a ‘justice system’ that continually forces survivors to relive their trauma and leaves abusers unpunished and un-shamed.” I have to ask why this is still a controversial take at Cornell.

Ilana Livshits is a second year student in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her fortnightly column Live Laugh Livshits focuses on politics, social issues and culture at Cornell. She can be reached at ilivshits@cornellsun.com.

Protest as Performance

Last week, my friend introduced me to slacktivism, “the practice of conspicuously showing support for a cause (as by posting on social media or hanging a flag or sign) without taking any real steps to effect change.” Slacktivism — as per its common definition — is easily seen and acknowledged on campus: taking photos with the United Auto Workers picket sign without striking or picketing with them; reposting Instagram posts on the death toll in Gaza without writing to local government officials on the need for pro-Palestine support within the government; and even the cynical conversations that disparage the state of society without the people taking a single ounce of action.

However, the word slacktivism and similar terms like performative activism are misleading. In the case of performative activism, the term “performative” is used to define action that is fake, inauthentic and trivial. Yet, part of activism is to be performed: carried out and presented to an audience. This resonates with the definition of performative as outlined by John Langshaw Austin, British philosopher of language. He observes that certain statements, such as the phrase “I do” during a wedding ceremony, do more than convey information — they enact an event, such as the formalization of a marriage and the subsequent roles of husband and wife.

As such, performative activism and many other buzzwords require action. The way they are used, then, highlights a broader issue of the waning understanding of the purpose of activism, and, more specifically, the purpose of protest. On campus, protests should not only gain an audience, but also make reasonable gains.

The purpose of protest is to enact change. If a protest cannot directly enact change, it should clearly outline reasonable demands for the movement and methods to enact them. However, recently, protests on campus have not enacted any change. Many protests organized by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation and Cornellians for Israel have been, put bluntly, pointless.

For instance, Cornellians for Israel organized poster stands of people taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7. While the poster stands were intended to honor the victims of the terrible attack, this attempt was highly farcical. By Oct. 12, these posters were in the trash outside of Olin Library. It is certainly not honoring to end up as a face on a poster in a trashcan. As a result, while setting up these poster stands was action, its impact was not activism.

CML has more nuance to its protests. For instance, CML’s disruption of the career fair at the Statler Hotel was crucial: Boeing should not be recruiting on Cornell’s campus when it supplies weapons the Israeli military. Companies that prioritize profit over morality — and thus contribute to the genocide in Gaza — should not represent the goals of the University and be welcomed on campus. While Cornell’s investments in military manufacturers cannot be easily prevented, the en -

trance of students into their machine can be. The purpose of this protest was clear: “it was a targeted disruption aimed at shutting down a Boeing and L3Harris recruitment event to pressure the administration into cutting ties with these companies,” as I wrote in my previous column.

On the other hand, when CML protesters marched from Ho Plaza into Klarman Hall chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” their protest was disruptive but created no change on campus. Palestine is consistently on our minds — it is in the news, on social media and on posters on campus. We do not need a protest in Klarman Hall to remind us that the genocide in Gaza is ongoing. We need reasonable outlines of what will happen next: how the University can reasonably enact change. While it is hard to see CML’s protests at Cornell having an effect globally (and that is what we truly need), CML should at least fight for administrative action on campus. Without purpose, protest becomes a spectacle. As Interim Provost John Siliciano provokingly said, “this is, in some sense, theater.” Theater, defined as a stage for viewing, is sometimes the purpose of protest: sometimes an issue simply needs views and attention. But protest needs to go past that: what is its purpose past attention? What reasonable change can happen?

For instance, the primary demand of CML to the University is divestment. However, divestment — as outlined by former President Pollack — is impossible. Pollack’s reasons include: one, divestment is a decision made by the Board of Trustees; two, Cornell’s endowment consists of gifts to the university that are invested to generate money; three, the call for divestment ignores companies that have concerning involvement in other countries; and four, the divestments called for risk violating New York state’s Executive Order 157, which prohibits investment activity intended to penalize Israel. Besides Pollack’s listed reasons, the Board of Trustees would never vote for divestment: it is a fruitless fight, no matter the level of intimidation the Board faces. CML needs to move on to different — and this time reasonable — demands to the University.

With Cornell suspending CML activists for protest, this fight for reasonable demands is more essential than ever. While it is extraordinarily brave for protesters to put their education on the line for what they believe in, these students need to ensure that the type of protests they are participating in create enough change — or at least pave the way for change — to be worth the risk of suspension. In other words, their suspension should be for something more than ideals. So, this is not a cry against protest: simply a plea for more productive protest. Your disruption should make a difference. And I hope that small difference will be one step towards Palestinian liberation.

Noah Farb

Noah Farb is a ﬁrst year student in the College of Arts and Sciences. His fortnightly column Tinking Critically discusses politics and current events. He can be reached at nef36@cornell.edu.

Te Rotting Empire

Ilistened to Prof. Russell Rickford say that we live in the rotting corpse of an empire that masquerades as a democracy on Nov. 8th to a crowd of (mostly) supportive onlookers in Ho Plaza who cheered him on after each statement. The oration continued as Rickford mentioned how those in America and western society pursuing “hawkish pro-Israel policies” in the Middle East are “morally depraved.”

The accusation of moral depravity is surprising coming from someone who was “exhilarated” by the rape and murder of innocent civilians by Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7th, 2023.

The majority of Rickford’s commentary had little to do with the recent presidential election the demonstration was purportedly about. Efforts had seemingly been made by rally organizers to obscure the true purpose of the the event which was sponsored by four Cornell student groups including the Cornell Progressives, Students for Justice in Palestine, Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America and the typically more moderate Cornell Democrats — noticeably absent as a sponsor of the rally was the more radical Coalition for Mutual Liberation, the traditional ringleader of anti-Israel sentiment on campus.

Rickford’s presence, along with various kefﬁyehs and Palestinian ﬂags gave away the fact that the rally was not actually meant to only be a “Stand Against Facism” or for “collective community processing [of] grief” as it was promoted. Positioning this “rally and march” as a response to the election of President Trump a few days prior was a dishonest attempt to broaden the tent of Cornell’s anti-Israel coalition to include all those who opposed the election of President Trump.

The sight of various signage with statements such as “f*ck Donald Trump” helped the facade, but the mirage was undermined when Rickford, the primary speaker, stated that he would not have much preferred Kamala Harris as president as “liberals [have] prepared the ground for facism by pursuing genocide abroad” and that “war proﬁteers” and “Boeing” would never allow themselves to lose an election.

He, like most of those listening to him, if the enthusiasm was any indication, did not care whether Trump or Vice President Harris gained power. The goal of those cheering seemed to be to weaponize the political climate to gather support for their anti-American and anti-Israel ideologies.

A further tell that this wasn’t a typical anti-Trump, pro-democracy rally was the decision by rally organizers to parade from Ho Plaza to Collegetown and the Commons shouting typical anti-Israel slogans such as “from the river to the sea.” This in a county that voted 75 percent for Harris, who, no matter what you might think of her, is a pro-American politician that nearly half the country voted for.

The efforts of these groups and their leaders, through their chanting of hate ﬁlled rhetoric, could ultimately create a political and social environment that

allows atrocities to occur much like they did in Amsterdam on Nov. 7th, where a pre-planned pogrom broke out with few consequences. I certainly hope it is not the case, but some of the rhetoric makes one wonder if that was the intention of at least some of the speakers and rally organizers.

The leaders of the rally seemed to be trying to gain strength in numbers under the anti-Trump banner however some of the groups behind the rally could not have been happy with at least some of the messages being conveyed.

There were more than a few people proudly waving transgender ﬂags throughout the rally. I can only wonder how they possibly justify standing in “solidarity” with people who openly support the actions of genocidal Islamic terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, organizations that execute and torture their own members for accusations of homosexuality and have leaders who have declared “war” on deviance from traditional sexual norms. The same conditions that enabled the Amsterdam pogrom have over the last quarter-century caused a chilling of Amsterdam’s once thriving LGBTQ community.

Cornellians who support free speech, true liberalism and real discourse, like I imagine the majority of the Cornell Democrats do, need to stand up and point out these inconsistencies emanating from a rally they have co-sponsored and put their name behind. How does a “pro-democracy,” anti-Trump rally turn into calls for the expulsion of Jews from the state of Israel? How do Rickford’s calls for the toppling of the political class of the “empire” align with the goals of the Cornell Democrats? Would the leaders of that group go so far as to call Vice President Harris a “genocidal person” like Professor Carlton Williams, law, did in the Commons on Friday? Do the rally’s sponsors support that extreme statement?

As Cornellians, we need to ask ourselves, what kind of community do we want? One guided by foundational American and Western values? Or one controlled by those who want to topple the current system and promote hate ﬁlled, inaccurateand indefensible arguments of genocide and occupation? In 1967, when Egypt ceded control of Gaza, the population of the coastal enclave was under 400,000. Today, there are well over 2,000,000 inhabitants, more than a ﬁve fold increase during a time when the world population has only increased 2.3 times. How can population growth at more than two times the rate of the world constitute genocide? Maybe someone from the math department can weigh in here.

I hope Cornellians ﬁnd the strength to stand up to these hate ﬁlled groups actively seeking to confuse and obfuscate reality here on our campus to further their political goals. These goals stand in stark opposition to American and Western values of truth, freedom of expression and civil discourse, principles that have allowed Cornell to grow and thrive since its founding.

SC I ENCE & TECH

From Crypto Currency to Medical Robots: Milstein Program Class of 2026 Begins Capstone Projects

By KYLE CHUN Sun Contributor

After two years of preparation, the Class of 2026 cohort of the Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity began developing their capstone projects this semester.

The Milstein Program takes a select number of exceptional students from each class every year to focus on the intersection between technology and humanity. Students participate in interdisciplinary workshops, discover internship opportunities and develop projects to interact with the larger community.

As juniors, students take on a self-selected year-long project that is completed individually or with a team of their choosing.

Some students, including Emilia Gurrola ’26, already have a clear vision for their projects. Gurrola is working on a comparative analysis of virtual asset regulation across different economies. Virtual assets are digital representations of value, such as cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.

Despite the intangibility of VAs, they have become a mainstream currency with a strong presence in the economy. For example, all of the Bitcoins

in circulation are valued at over 1.5 trillion USD. Therefore, many governments are hesitant to put regulations on VA transactions and trading, in fear of stiﬂing the economy.

However, anonymous VA platforms can streamline money laundering for individuals who have obtained their money illegally. The ability of VA platforms to “clean” cash so easily complicates matters. The ethical and eco-

nomic concerns involved in regulating VAs are what makes them so difﬁcult to regulate, according to Gurrola.

Other students have established their general direction while ﬁnalizing the details of their projects. Arshia Agrawal ’26 looks to focus on either artiﬁcial intelligence in robotics or sustainable AI practices.

With AI set to innovate in many ﬁelds in the near future, Agrawal may

focus her project on integrating AI into medicine via robotics or creating a sustainable AI software.

The massive computing energy and hardware resources required to power high-tech companies and their extensive algorithms have deleterious effects

“The best part of the Milstein Program is that you can positively interact with your community beyond Cornell.”

Arshia Agrawal ’26

on the planet, according to Argawal. Therefore, she believes that a project focusing on developing a more sustainable AI requiring less computational power would be a valuable pursuit.

Ultimately, both Gurrola and Agrawal hope to complete meaningful work at the intersection of technology and humanity.

“The best part of the Milstein Program is that you can positively interact with your community beyond Cornell,” Agrawal said.

Bridging Cultures and Crops: Cornell’s EOA Program Connects Graduate Students with Hispanic Farmers in N.Y.

By KITTY ZHANG Sun Contributor

Cornell’s Extension Outreach Assistantship program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences empowers graduate students to tackle real-world challenges alongside local communities and researchers, bridging academic learning with handson impact.

Beyond professional development and career exploration opportunities, the EOA program offers a chance for students to strengthen ties to their cultural heritage, particularly within the Hispanic community.

One key initiative of the EOA program in the past years has focused on assisting Spanishspeaking agricultural communities in New York State.

Leo Salgado, a Ph.D. student from Honduras, combines his background in entomology with his passion for community outreach. “I was surprised that there are so many people who speak Spanish as their ﬁrst language who own farms here in New York but don’t speak any English,” Salgado said.

According to the National Agricultural Workers Survey of 2019-2020, 78 percent of all farmworkers in the U.S. are Hispanic. The 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture reports that New York alone is home to over 670 Hispanic, Latino or Spanish farm owners who manage more than 81,000 acres of farmland, with the population rapidly increasing over the years.

Recognizing the language

and cultural barriers faced by these farmers, Salgado worked on translating pest management materials, such as pesticide safety and crop pest face sheets, from English to Spanish, in collaboration with Prof. Brian Nault, entomology, and Alejandro Calixto, director of the New York State Integrated Pest Management, to help bridge educational gaps for Spanishspeaking farmers.

Similarly, Kensy RodriguezHerrera, a Ph.D. student from Honduras, also focused her EOA initiative on making agricultural knowledge more accessible.

Having experienced firsthand the difficulty of finding accessible Spanish-language pest management resources in the US as an international student,

Rodriguez-Herrera created a series of YouTube videos with English audio and Spanish subtitles to address this gap. These videos cover essential topics such as pruning cucurbit crops, selecting and growing the best, sweetest watermelons, and managing vegetable pests and diseases.

With a focus on clear visuals and simple explanations, the videos aim to educate a wider audience of Spanish-speaking farmers.

“The EOA program gave me the freedom and opened my mind to new ways of helping my community,” RodriguezHerrera said. “I want to help others reconnect with their roots and feel at home.”

The EOA program also extends its reach beyond digital

materials by offering in-person outreach to Spanish-speaking farmers through ﬁeld day events such as the Orange County Field Days in collaboration with the Cornell Small Farm Program.

These ﬁeld days provide a platform for graduate students like Salgado and Rodriguez-Herrera to connect directly with the Hispanic farming community, particularly with children.

“Exposure to these kinds of activities is important to help kids connect back to their roots,” Rodriguez-Herrera said.

“When the kids are born here, it’s hard for them to connect to their cultural roots, so I think it is a great way for them to reconnect and develop an interest in agriculture.”

For Salgado, the excitement

of young children during these events serves as a reminder of the power of outreach in sparking curiosity in children and providing them with the tools to stay connected to their cultural roots.

Despite the success of the EOA program, Salgado explained that the one-semester duration limits the establishment of a long-term program, particularly in recruiting more Spanish-speaking students with expertise in farming and pest management to focus on the Hispanic community.

Nonetheless, he remains optimistic and envisions future collaborations with Raúl Lemus Garza, the Cornell New York State Integrated Pest Management Program’s ﬁrst full-time bilingual project specialist, to continue translating pest management documents. Additionally, he aims to recruit more Spanish-speaking graduate students through organizations like the Student Association of the Geneva Experiment Station, which fosters engagement with agricultural issues speciﬁc to New York.

In addition to filming YouTube videos, RodriguezHerrera continues to support the Hispanic community by hosting her podcast.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun. com.

Kitty Zhang can be reached at az429@cornell.edu.

Kyle Chun can be reached at ksc224@ cornell.edu.

Succesful scholars | The Milstein Program offers selected scholars the opportunity to develop a capstone project at the nexus of technology and the humanities.

Building bridges | Cornell’s Extension Outreach/Assistantship program enables graduate students to partner with Spanish-speaking agricultural communities in New York State.

COURTESY OF PH.D. STUDENT LEO SALGADO

Best Side Dishes To Make For Holiday Dinners

By Melanie Delfosse

Melanie Delfosse is a freshman in the College of Human Ecology. She can be reached at md2262@cornell.edu.

With libraries crowded due to upcoming prelims, earlier sunsets, and colder weather, it can be hard to remember that the holiday season is coming up! But with Thanksgiving Break in a week and Winter Break soon after, it’s good to keep those in mind - and even start thinking of how we want to play a part in holiday dinners. From dinner rolls to pies, easy store-bought sides to time-consuming homemade spectacles, there’s a variety of ways to help contribute this winter.

Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls are a new addition to my family’s holiday dinners, but have become an instant classic. Depending on how much time you have (and effort you feel like putting in), there are three levels to making dinner rolls. The easiest is buying some sort of premade dough and simply following the instructions on the label.

If you want to go a level above, finding a 30-minute recipe online where you have to make the dough from scratch will probably taste better - but you’ll probably need a lot of ingredients like flour, yeast, oil, sugar, and potentially eggs and other spices.

Finally, if you want to make an amazing roll I recommend Tasty 101’s Ultimate Dinner Rolls. They require 1.5 hours of rest, half an hour of cooking, and even more time just making the dough, but if you’re sitting around or just want to destress for a bit, they are so amazingly delicious. My sister started making them a few years ago and now they’re one of my favorite side dishes.

Mac N’ Cheese

In my family, mac n’ cheese is my Grandmother’s dish, so I haven’t had much experi-

ence with it beyond trying (and failing) to copy her recipe. What I did learn was that grating your cheese by hand is super important as pre-shredded cheese tends to have some sort of flour-y coating on it, preventing it from melting the same way fresh cheese would.

Mashed Potatoes

Easy mashed potatoes can also come together with a simple boxed mix. If you add in some sort of dairy, like half and half or even a cream cheese as some online chefs suggest, it can make it taste just a bit better. If you’re able to boil the potatoes yourself, you can generally better control the quality and texture. For the best mashed potatoes, I would follow instructions from America’s Test Kitchen. From specific chopping techniques to using a specific masher or food mill to get specific textures, going the extra mile will result in an amazing side sure to impress.

Vegetable Side Dish

My personal favorites include green beans, carrots, and onions, but it can be easily altered to follow your preference. For the easiest side, you can use frozen vegetables and cook according to the bag, and perhaps add a topping or sauce to your liking. To up the ante, use fresh vegetables, perhaps boiling green beans and roasting carrots, which might require more steps. And for an amazing veggie side dish, I recommend a butter sauce and some nicer toppings: bacon or nuts tend to be popular and delicious.

Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are a super simple appetizer: all you need are eggs, mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, and paprika. After boiling the eggs, cutting them in half

and scooping out the yolks is repetitive but simple and easy to do, and if you want to add some extra flair, pipe out the new filling as opposed to just scooping them back in. Either way, they’re sure to be delicious.

Pie

I was always more of a baker, so over several years I worked on improving my apple pie, and despite various bumps along the way (especially it burning the first year…), there are definitely a few things that elevate holiday pies.

For a simple pie at any level, you can of course buy the crust ahead of time from a grocery store. In this case, you still generally get to control the quality of the filling, which is most of the fun.

When baking apple pie, focus on tart apples (like the classic granny smith) and getting a good mix of spices. For pumpkin, choose a good quality puree (or even go crazy and make it from scratch) and again, focus on the spices to get some great flavors.

And for pecan, my personal favorite, I would definitely recommend using corn syrup for the filling, giving a super sweet taste and sticky, syrupy consistency. If you truly have the time, or just want to try your hand at it, make the crust from scratch: it’ll be a lot of waiting or resting time, but it’ll also probably taste ten times better than one from the store.

With midterms coming to an end and prep for finals starting, it’s important to spend some time relaxing with loved ones. One amazing way to destress and take your mind off school is with cooking. Hopefully, one of these side dishes sounds appealing and you’re able to have some fun trying your hand at cooking and potentially start a new tradition. Happy holidays!

MELANIE DELFOSSE / SUN LIFESTYLE CONTRIBUTOR

November Blues: Coping With Te Election & Recent Events

By Sanika Saraf

Sanika Saraf is a freshman in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She can be reached at ss4353@cornell.edu.

Two weeks after Election Day, many students are still feeling the harsh aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory. Some on campus are left emotionally bruised, concerned about what the next four years in America will look like. A common sentiment around campus is “feeling lost,” Mikayla Thomas ‘28 comments.

Students report feeling worried about specific issues that a Trump presidency would heighten, including minority and reproductive rights.

“The threat to LGBTQ rights, HRT access, immigration rights, and contraception access” are all things Akoya Wellingtonalton ‘28 is worried about. “The people I love are afraid and hurting and that’s devastating because there’s not really that much that can be done to protect them.”

Coupled with the gloomy November weather, deaths on campus, sexual assault allegations, and prelim season, Cornellians are struggling with both the burden of work and their mental health. During this difficult time, students have been dealing with this stress in differing ways.

“I’m just blocking the election results out of my brain till he gets inaugurated,” Ruhi Datar ‘28 states.

“Digesting the news definitely took some time,” Tina Lin ‘27 comments, “Why are we moving backward?”

This post-two-week period has led to a wide pattern of questioning the United States and its values. A common phrase in Ithaca is the “Cornell Bubble,” a phenomenon in which being surrounded by other people like you warps your perspective of the world.

“I expected Harris to win… it was strange to see that and realize that with a Trump victory, a lot of the work I’d been doing was essentially meaningless,” Akoya Wellingtonalton ‘28 said, explaining her feelings of disappointment towards the election.

“While this election has definitely impacted by mental health especially the morning of the election, in a way this election was also a wake-up call,” Jonathan Lam ‘27 adds.

Feeling overwhelmed, disappointed, or even hopeless by the results is a shared experience among many Cornellians, especially with an election as tumultuous as this election. Nonetheless, many ways exist to practice self-care and mitigate stress post-election. Here are some tips to cope with the emotions you might be feeling:

Pause And Make Plans

Take time out of your day for yourself. As college students, our days are so packed that we often forget to practice self-care.

Practicing breathing exercises, journaling, or exercising are ways to feed your body and your spirit that are proven to decrease stress.

Additionally, make plans with your friends and spend time with your loved ones. Whether that be finding a restaurant in the commons, taking a stroll outside, or having a quick chat, communication is key to thriving mentally.

Tina Lin ‘27 agrees. “I’m glad I am surrounded by friends, peers, and even strangers who share similar feelings in this election.”

Limit Doomscrolling

While we all love scrolling on Sidechat or other social media, too much news can give a misleadingly negative perspective of campus, politics, and the world. Set screen time notifications on your phone to keep track of the time you spend on electronics, and possibly even set time limitations.

Channel Your Feelings Into Making Change

While discouraging, this election has shown the issues and mindset of a majority of Americans. It’s important to continue advocating for the things you’re passionate about regardless of the administration in power.

“At the end of the day, I am at Cornell University to get my education and use this as a tool for fighting against injustice and uplifting my communities,” Jonathan Lam ‘27 elaborates. Jonathan is continuing to work for organizations like the ACLU and Cornell University Parole Initiative to advocate for immigrant rights and criminal justice reforms.

“The fights that we were fighting before have not stopped being important… Now more than ever, we need to stay the course and fight for what we want the world to be,” Akoya Wellingtonalton ’28 adds. Weald your feelings and emotions into causes you care about – join clubs, volunteer organizations, and communities where you can continue to make demonstrated change in the world.

Make Use Of The Cornell Community

Emotional reactions to a high-stakes election like this are common, especially for those in minority communities. It’s extremely normal to feel sad, anxious, and disheartened, however, if these feelings are interfering with other aspects of your life, it’s crucial to communicate your emotions to someone who could potentially help. Talk to trusted professors, friends, or family for guidance. Additionally, Cornell provides a wide range of resources including CAPS and walk-in services on the second floor of WSH.

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Isabel “I’m not gonna milk your cows” Gallegos

*nd n*w, *ntr*d*c*ng th*

d*d r*nk in the *vy L**g**,

And now presenting the only REAL drumline in the Ivy League!

SNARES

Tori Cotton^, Dennis Chen, Reilly “Gurt” Potter, Riley ”Grippers” Lanz, Kir Krause, Dylan Carson

TENORS

Lucy Cheeley*^, Patrick Thieblemont*, Max Fanning, Sasha Rabeno*, Kamili Fernandez

Catherine Frank

BASSES

Jada Mbgua*^, Anand Bannerji, Emily Mawhinney, Kobe West, Bella Lin*, Lauren Noll, Adrik Aburto, Jupiter Bhanot

CYMBALS

Angelleigh DeTroy*^~, Carol Montejo *^, Liza Wadell*, Jake Walter *, Eduardo Novoa-Lugo*, Izzy Toso*, Ludia Cho*, Yacharee Morales, Diana Palma-Vasquez, Kit West, Gaby Goldberg, Hanan Saidou

BELLS

Talia Rubeo^~, Claudia Slivovsky*, Alex Wong Jordyn Hurry, James Nicoll, Sonja Wong

were always there to listen, no matter how late it was or what you had going on. You are a great leader, and I am never going to forget the memories we made together. Peej, I love you to the moon and to Saturn. Enjoy retirement, you’ve earned it! Thank you, Band!

Love, Emily “EJ, eej” Jones

Hey Band!

And now introducing your 2025 Drum Major… Josh Faber!

Stay true to yourself, protect the legacy, and always remember to keep your eyes ﬁlled with pride.

RoycE “SlEEp SchEdulE King” AndrEws AnnalisE “Robots” Thompson ClairE “ElEctron transport chain” Cho #

Now presenting the most Friendly, Forgetful, Funky, Fenomenal, dream Following, FERAL, Fascinatingly acceptable rank… rank F!!!

Christina “Fisual Queen” Bray

Matthew “Your rank is over there” Kushner

Kathy “Freshmen Rank Leader” Miller

Joonho “F is For Fruity” Kim

Ryan “Minecraft Villager” Peng

Hannah “Solid-est Dance Break” Blank Katelyn “Hippie” Tai Chloe “?” Who

Justin “Why do you Call Me Al” Han

Emily “Give me your bugs!” Mawhinney

Z The zillions, not zero, zygotes of rank z that zip zap zoot zot on the Zamboni while zipping past zebra-striped zinnias with a zest for zaniness!

Hanna “Ur mom and my appendix”

Lighthall

Lila “Let’s Do a Handstand” Klepper

Emily “Head Swiftie” Jones

Jonathan “Battle of the Jonathans” Chen

Alia “Fridge” Naquvi

Ava “Project Team” Lanuale

Angela “The Expert” Sotil-Diaz

JLnd JLow JLntroducing JLhe JLizardJLoving, JList- JLumbing, JLazzy, JLolly, JLoyful, JLubliant JLaxes…. Rank JL

Josh “JL traitor yet creator” WiLLiams

Retna “busy Lady” Arun

“diLLa over cas” FarreLL

Catie

Morgan “pep princess” WiLcox EmiLy “hoLd my sax” FeLts

#presenting #thegreastestrank #intheonlyrealmarchingband #inthelivyleague, #the #thriving #thrilling #thoughtful #thirsty #THORPE

Mike “#EzraCornell” DiGrado AJ “#MustardGas” James Leah “#IsThisSetOne?” Chang

Katie “#MyJointsHurt” Driscoll Rafael “#It’sNotSpeltRafeal” Montán Cohen “#MissedDayOneOfUnicycling” Fitzwater

Jamie “#VoilentHandJive” Heskett

Meredith “#BringBackCocoAndClairClair” Rosenthal Faiza “#BigStrongFireﬁghter” Huda Alannah “#BetrayalOfTheSaxSection” Dennis

M Now Introducing the Most Magniﬁcent, Marvelous, Multitalented, Momentous, and Melodic Members of the Most Monumental Mank in the Mivy Meague…MANK M!!

Tails “Is it Delicious????” Addo

Detour “MMMM HMMMMMM” Lammers Sunny “Raccoons make the cutest puppies”

Batuncang Grapefruit “Willingly chooses to play Bone” Bermudez

Mugs “I used to go to E. Motion workshops” Canova Goose “Photography king” Kerstetter Maha “Have you watched Love Island, yet?”

Mohamed Scooby “How do you make popcorn?” O’Connor William “That rollercoaster was so unsafe, I loved it” Wang

Now introducing the niftiest and NOICEest rank in the Ivy League!

Duck “fresh can of tennis balls“ Haig

Apples “what’s your least favorite vegetable“ Chuhta Dawgs “barefoot on the ﬁeld“ Gu Tyler “pinwheel center“ Hodgman

Komet “I’ll just learn the drill six hours before marching“ Leiby

Mew “watch me cook (delicious pound cake)“ Skeete

Crash “four working limbs!!!“ Slivovsky

Now introducing the One and Only, Objectively mOst Outstanding, Oreomunching, Over-achieving… RANK O!

Ofﬁcially the Omnipotent rank of the Only real marching band in the Ivy League! Ow Ow Ow!!!

TOast “whair r yauwwww!?” HOlst

DOc “ﬁsh fear me, women fear me, sourdough starters fear me” Neiss

Pidge “football? I didn’t see a football”

Sherlock

Fancy “conventional water receptacles are social constructs” Lau

Wins “wait, that isn’t the hockey team”

Weinstein

Milkman “the WHAT bus?!?!?!” BilOtti

Sven “chronically on thin ice” van HOesel

Emily “they’re Lynah ‘bout those pickles”

Andersen

Emma “bus beef instigator” Anthes

Kylie “it’s ok to bite every now and then” Miller

Now introducing… the most poised, precise, punctual, and pulchritudinous rank in the Ivy League!

Dubs “the rank points must ﬂow” Kaprielian

Tommy “counter-counter-counter-clockwise” McFarland

Frog “emergency Tommy” Lizmi

Chestnut “Rank P mega room” Stoner

Limbo “Oh Boston my Boston” Chargois

Tumble “needs training wheels” Schneyer

Dive “table hater” Rummery

Pipsqueak “well-done steak” Howard

Emily ”both managers???” Jones

Chuckles “showcomm? nocomm” Alexiadis

Allison “beaver” Weiher

Jonathan “drink the ladle” Lee

Alannah “yee harder” Dennis

Caitlyn “just here for the Penn band”

Pelletier

Campell “not beating the furry allegations”

Mitchell

Dawgs “HIGH NOTE!?!” Gu

Dina “confused pink wig” Nabavian

Jamie “never-ending wave” Heskett

Komet “for the vlog” Leiby

And now for the most Remarkable, Ridiculously cool, Really awesome, and Rankiest Rank: Rank R!

Josh “the Josh one, again” Faber

Ella “don’t fall for an entire day challenge”

Johnson

Bella “not the Indiana one” Davi Tennyson “number 1 NJ fan” Nelson

Erik “knee deep in sports statistics”

Bermudez

Dan “collegetown laps” Han

B “Ben “we’re so back” Quint” Q

SAnd now for the most slankiest, most smartest, most superiest rank, rank S!

Cam “bailing for LA” Thornton

Emily “favorite soprano baritone player”

Andersen

Jake “weirdest place you’ve slept” Donovan

Troy “yet another physics prelim” Madrio

Kai “yellow deli enthusiast” Nielson

Willem “where is he?” Light-Olson

Tyler “shrug” Higgins

Eduardo “all of my drill is wrong” NovoaLugo

Christian “pop-punk Ed Sheeran” Zeser

Slice “dance team’s newest member” Scialabba

T?

TUBA

AJ “man bun” Villaruel

Alex “werewolf” Coy

Bowen “sooo farrrr” Jiang

Carter “only voted once (my bad)” Larsen

Dina “was not in the kitchen with someone”

Nabavian

Eddy “mariachi” Silva

Jonathan “only voted twice (my bad)” Miller

Micah “Dr. T” Toliver

Yehyun “anything: so I started blasting” Choi

Guard

And now presenting, the only movie-commentating, baklava-making, catnapple-loving, interested-in-DRUM CADENCE Colorguard in the Ivy League...

Ola “so this is a new move” Taha

Crystal “200 digit IQ” Grissom

Emily “ICPC!!!!” Spans

Kit “the C stands for Coward??” West

Elif “you wanna see a picture of my cat?” Aydogan

Axel “*runs a 5k*” Hanley

Justin “Do you think I can pass as a sophomore?” Han

Amanda “What should my whaaat?” Xiao

Helen “riﬂe workshop” Ma

Kevin “disappearing act” Zhang Drumline

Our dear drumline – it has been an honor and a privilege to be your drum captains for 365(+1!) days, and especially for our month of 10/24! To our new members, you mean the absolute world to us, and your excitement over whatever stupidity we get up to is beyond contagious. You guys are the future of this line, and we can’t wait to see where you take it. To our seniors, thank you for your help creating the group we love so much. The drumline is a family, and you’ll always have a home with us. <3 With Love, Your 2024 Drum Captains, Angelleigh DeTroy and Talia Rubeo

Senior=* Subsection Leader=^... Drum Captain=

HM Hey Band! Thank you all for an incredible season! To all of our new members, your energy is infectious and I am so glad you joined us. You truly made my last year so special. To Bandstaph, thank you for all of your hard work this year, the band would not be able to function without you. You helped make everything go smoothly this year. To Dubs, you have been an incredible Pep Band Manager and I am so glad we got to work together all year. The Pep Band is so lucky to have had you as their leader. Last but not least, Pauws, congrats on an amazing two years as Drum Major! I have seen ﬁrsthand how much you care about this band and it is truly inspiring how hard you have worked all year. I am so lucky to have had you by my side. You supported me so much and

Love, Ellison, Kozma, Matte, Romero, Kozma, Curtis, Crosby, Preciado, Olson, Albanese, Reno, Richmond, Gerson, Seery, Caulﬁeld, Tucker, Kerman, Ball, James, John, Wolf, Minster, Gerbracht, Frank, Cohen, French, Meier, Chamberlin, Gordon, Murray, Kohen, Dolan, Baxter, Mandarano, Kelin, Vicks, Fish, Metsa, Vicks, Bonnano, and Sherman

Emily Catherine Jones, Thank you for this year. The band cannot run without you. You’ve put so much into this, and I am so incredibly grateful for you. I admire your ability to keep a smile on your face and hold your head high, even when it feels like nothing is going right. The challenges you’ve had to overcome have shown your strength and resilience. Your ability to celebrate through the struggles is nothing short of impressive. I couldn’t imagine my time at Cornell or the band without you there. You deserve the world (and a break)! You are one of the best parts of my life. Thank you for teaching me humility. Thank you for teaching me honesty. Thank you for everything. Enjoy the last semester, my love.

Nina “Pauws” Ellison

Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once. Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of the three “directions,” hence the “single numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name. (Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sudoku)

Touch Grass by Ximena Balli ’27

Professors Debate Which Discipline Would Survive the Apocalypse

Nov. 14 — The apocalypse is here. Humanity is no more. Whose subject should be preserved for the next generation of sentient life?

This is the premise of the annual Apocalypse Debate hosted by Logos: The Cornell Undergraduate Philosophy Journal and Club. Students packed the 400-person Uris Hall auditorium Thursday evening to watch five Cornell professors battle it out to argue their academic discipline should be preserved if humanity was annihilated and replaced by another species.

Presenting their cases were Prof. Roger Gilbert, literatures in English; Prof. Andrew Hicks, music; Prof. Emad Atiq, law and philosophy; and Prof. Ryan Tapping, physics while Industrial and Labor Relations senior lecturer Samuel Nelson played devil’s advocate, arguing that none of the disciplines should be preserved.

Gilbert argued in his opening statement that “English literature provides a varied and granular picture of human experiences and cultural specificity,” which the next generation could learn from.

Hicks expounded on the “complex cognitive abilities embedded in the discipline of music that are critical for the evolution of other cognitive traits,” like the ability to “conform our own activities to [environmental affordances].”

“Who knows when some apocalyptic world may have a fantastic beat drop, and we need to respond to it?” Hicks said.

Atiq asserted the need for the hypothetical sentient race to read moral and legal philosophy to prevent a

“state of nature” where the strong prey on the weak. He also compared choosing philosophy to choosing a “diversified portfolio” as it is embedded with all the other disciplines in the debate.

Atiq said, “By choosing any one of these other disciplines, you risk abandoning those most in need of help and protection. That’s a risk you can’t take. It’s immoral.”

Tapping championed the technological developments that physics affords, especially how it “provides a pathway for these future sentient beings to use resources efficiently and accelerate societal progress.”

Nelson started his speech by accusing the debaters of claiming that their respective fields were better than the others without addressing each of their weaknesses, which he listed as: English literature’s exclusion of literature in other languages, the indefinability of music, the impractical nature of answering philosophical questions and the destructiveness of the atomic bomb.

“Humanity has failed. We are a cancer. The only thing [these sentient beings] could learn from us is to not be us,” Nelson said.

With these words, the other professors refined their points for the next two rounds of the debate. While Nelson’s attacks on the other professors’ arguments were met with uproarious laughter, Atiq ultimately triumphed with the audience vote.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Lana Condor Discusses Asian American Representation in Film

While optimistic about progress, Condor was candid about the need for more representation.

Students, Faculty Stage Pro-Palestine Study-In at Mann

Nov. 19 — The Cornell Collective for Justice in Palestine — a broad coalition of pro-Palestinian graduate workers, staff and faculty — held a pro-Palestinian study-in — a silent form of protest where participants sit as a means of advocating for their cause — on Tuesday at Mann Library, at 3 p.m.

The event was hosted along with the Cornell Coalition for Mutual Liberation and Students for Justice in Palestine at Cornell to protest “Cornell’s censorship of pro-Palestine activism” and advocate for “divestment from the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” according to a CML Instagram post.

“Like its libraries, the University is meant to be a site of knowledge and dialogue, yet it is disproportionately censoring pro-Palestine ideas and voices and ignoring pro-Palestine demands,” CCJP’s press release on the event said. “CCJP’s study-in for Palestine –– which is not in violation of any university policy –– demands action and accountability from Cornell University.”

Prof. Russell Rickford, history, said his decision to attend the study-in was driven by his commitment to human rights and desire for Cornell to divest from companies engaged in “war crimes and crimes against humanity.” According to Rickford, this is a “principle that Cornell itself professes but continues to violate.”

Prior to the Mann Library study-in, participants were instructed to bring keffiyehs, buttons and relevant signage and reading materials to study in the library’s atrium.

Signs and flyers posted throughout the space read “Imagine It Happened Here,” “Whose Freedom of Expression? Cornell Censors Pro-Palestine Speech,” “Shhh! We’re funding Genocide - Cornell” and more. Buttons and informational materials were also provided that said, “No Suspensions, No Deportations.”

Students and faculty alike gathered around the atrium not only to study, but also to exchange sentiments toward Cornell administration.

“If you acknowledge the kind of cognitive dissonance and the sheer grotesqueness of our reality, then authorities will punish you,” Rickford said. “So part of what we [are doing] is trying to be an example of the imperative to speak up, and to speak out, and to refuse to remain silent, and to refuse to be smothered, and [to refuse] to be marginalized, and [to refuse] to be demonized and [to refuse] to be discredited.”

Nov. 17 — Students packed Bailey Hall to welcome actress and advocate Lana Condor for an engaging Q&A session on Friday evening.

Known for her breakout role as Lara Jean in Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, Condor captivated the audience with her candid reflections on her career, her identity as an Asian American in Hollywood and her personal journey through acting.

The appearance was organized by Cornell University Program Board and the Multicultural Community Fueled Activity Board and marks their last event of the semester. Melissa Reifman ’25, head of strategy for CUPB, shared the organization’s excitement for Condor to bring “a little bit of joy” to campus, especially following “a pretty dark couple weeks here at Cornell.”

“We were super excited about Lana because it was pretty different from our shows so far for this year,” Reifman said. “It was a really fun Q&A where we could play some games and just kind of keep things light.”

Condor began the event with a laugh.

“You guys. I got super lost trying to get to whatever this building is,” Condor said. “They said it was six minutes away from where I was staying. It was like a 20-minute journey through the woods over here. But we’re here!”

The evening turned to meaningful discussion, with Condor reflecting on the shift she has seen in Hollywood regarding opportunities for AsianAmerican actors.

“I actually do believe the needle has moved in a much better way than it has before,” Condor said.

Condor said that before the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy, she never got opportunities to audition for lead roles.

“That was not part of the narrative for what Hollywood was trying to bring to me,” Condor said. “But I will say, after To All the Boys, I saw more opportunities, more roles being written for Asian American women across the board.”

“Our stories became something that Hollywood was really excited to tell — they should have always been excited to tell them,” Condor said. “But I think I will take what they give me while still fighting very hard.”

In addition to discussing her career, Condor spoke passionately about her work with the Asia Foundation, an organization she has been partnered with since 2017 to support young women pursuing education in Vietnam.

Condor was adopted from Vietnam at four months old and said though she “got the privilege and honor” to live in many places, she has “always had this really intense gratitude and yearning to do more for my home country and where I was born.”

“I got really, really lucky to be introduced to the Asia Foundation, and they focus on helping young women in the region in which I was born to get [their] high school education and everything that comes with that,” Condor said. “It gives me real purpose, and I love what I do — I love my job — but in an even more concrete way, the work that I do with the Asia Foundation is something I’m really, really proud of.”

Following the Q&A, the evening shifted to interactive games including rapid-fire questions, ranking romance troupes and red flag green flag beige flag, which gave students a chance to see Condor’s lighthearted side.

Neha Patil ’28 chose to attend the event as a fan of Condor’s movies.

“I thought [the event] was really cool,” Patil said. “I thought it was interesting to her about her experiences, her perspective on movies and sets she’s been on, and how it feels to be Asian-American representation in the media.”

Selena Chen ’28, echoed her excitement to hear from an actress outside of film and press.

“I think it was really fun seeing a celebrity for the first time, getting to see her outside of a film,” Chen said. “She seemed very genuine and very real.”

Pro-Palestinian study-ins have recently occurred outside of Cornell’s campus as well. At Harvard University, students and professors have held multiple pro-Palestine study-ins over the past two months. On Oct. 30, more than 70 pro-Palestinian activists staged a silent studyin at Harvard’s Widener Library to protest the University’s refusal to conduct a review of its investments for ties to human rights violations.

Cornell’s study-in had a meaningful impact for many participants who felt that the University’s actions have contradicted its founding principle.

“While we’re privileged enough to attend Cornell, there are currently no operating universities in Gaza,” wrote an anonymous CML spokesperson in an email to The Sun. “Ezra Cornell dreamed that Cornell could be a place for ‘... any person … any study.’ However, Cornell University invests in companies that profit from Scholasticide abroad.”

The study-in had a similarly moving effect on faculty members in attendance.

“We want other staff and faculty to say ‘me too, I’m also outraged. I’m also heartsick. I’m also feeling bereft. I’m also grieving. I don’t accept this,’” Rickford said. “The soul of higher education, the soul of the West, is rotting away as we allow our government and our authorities to carry out this horrific genocide.”

doesn’t give us the data that we need.”

Through this communication and cooperation, Cutler said he will be striving to implement “cutting-edge” innovations on campus. Just five weeks into his position here, Cutler is already formulating various long-term visions for Cornell Dining.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

By YUHAN HUANG Sun Contributor

By JULIA LIAN Sun Contributor

Yuhan Huang can be reached at yh2273@cornell.edu.

Julia Lian can be reached at jl4563@cornell.edu.

Kristie To can be reached at ktt39@cornell.edu.

Study signs | Students silently protested in Mann Library with Pro-Palestine signs, buttons and kefiyahs on Tuesday afternoon.

SHAILEE SHAW / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

By KRISTIE TO Sun Contributor

Shadows Dance Troupe Celebrates Senior Class

By ASHLEY LEE and ROWAN WALLIN Sun Contributors

Nov. 19 — Shadows Dance Troupe held their annual Fall Step event — the University’s largest dance collective — on Sunday at the State Theatre of Ithaca. The night celebrated the Shadows senior class and included performances from nine other dance groups.

Approximately 200 audience members were in attendance as well as dance groups On Tap, Air Bhangra, Salsa Pa’lante, Rise Dance Group, BASE Productions, Sitara, Amber Dance Troupe, Pandora Dance Troupe and the Cornell University Dance Team.

“Tonight’s really exciting because we get to see all of the groups dance together, and I’m a senior — this is my last time having this performance, so it was really cool being able to do that,” said Caroline Kelman ’25, who has been in the tap-dancing group On Tap since her ﬁrst year at Cornell.

While performing is exciting, it can also be nerve-racking, according to Roni Ben-Shlomo ’25, a member of Shadows.

“Preparing for the show is deﬁnitely a little stressful, and you feel the nerves leading up to the show, but it ends up being really fun,” Ben-Shlomo said.

Nicole Ciofﬁ ’26, a dancer in Shadows, said that the group has been preparing since August.

“It’s been a very long process but it’s so rewarding,” Ciofﬁ said.

Natalie Miller ’25, a member of Salsa Pa’lante — Cornell’s Cuban salsa group — emphasized the adaptability needed to prepare for the Fall Step performance. Salsa Pa’lante saw a member step out of the routine last minute, meaning roles were shifted for dance members.

Miller then switched to become one of the leaders — the traditionally male role — in the dance, allowing Lana Vasi ’26, a member of another Salsa Pa’lante group, to come and perform with them as

a follower — the traditionally female role.

Vasi is typically on the level three Salsa Pa’lante group which is one level below the performing group and was given ﬁve days to learn the dance just in time for Sunday’s performance.

“When I got the text [asking me to perform], at ﬁrst I was excited, because I love performing and the stage,” Vasi said. “But then when I realized that I [had] to do the choreography, and I [didn’t] know anything; I was a little scared but everyone was so reassuring and everyone was so welcoming. They believed in me, so I ended up believing in myself.”

Miller said that she was conﬁdent in Vasi ’s performance, despite it following just ﬁve hours of practice.

The show also spotlighted seniors. Younger Shadows members honored senior members with heartfelt speeches and bouquets of ﬂowers.

Reﬂecting on her time as a senior Shadows dancer, Ben-Shlomo said, “You get to spend a lot of time with your friends and teammates, and you’re just doing what you love to do together.”

The seniors’ reﬂections were not only meaningful for the recipients but also for the younger members who saw seasoned members’ efforts and contributions to the groups behind the curtains.

“The most meaningful part of tonight was the senior speeches — getting to acknowledge each of our seniors,” Ciofﬁ said. “They’ve put so much time into our group, and it was awesome to be able to appreciate them and show that we love them.”

While Fall Step recognized seniors, it also gave passionate dancers a platform to perform.

“Fall Step to me is a celebration of dance — recognizing the other dance groups we have on campus,” said Soﬁa Arulpragasam ’26, a dancer in Shadows. “It’s exciting to see our creativity coming together and see everyone getting so passionate about one show.”

Ashley Lee and Rowan Wallin can be reached at ayl65@cornell.edu and rgw77@cornell.edu.

Ignite Holds Worship Night Amid Campus Tragedies

By ANJELINA GONZALEZ Sun Contributor

Nov. 17 — Music could be heard on Ho Plaza from Sage Chapel as attendees came and went through open doors. Inside, emotions ran high under a colorful projector screen, with pews ﬁlled, a full band and ambient lighting.

More than 600 students across various Christian organizations gathered at 7 p.m. on Friday in Sage Chapel for an inter-fellowship worship called Ignite.

Ignite’s founder, Christopher Ho Kim ’25, and the Ignite planning team aimed to gather members from various Jesus-centered organizations on the Cornell campus. They sought to host a night of uniﬁed prayer and worship while providing a safe space for those unfamiliar with the Christian community.

Kim started the semesterly event during his ﬁrst semester at Cornell after transferring from the University of Virginia for his sophomore year.

“At UVA, they had this inter-fellowship worship night called SEEK, which was hosted at a local church in Charlottesville, and so I thought that was pretty cool,” Kim said.

Planning for Ignite took roughly 10 months. However, a few days before the event, the Ignite team issued a statement announcing a change from its traditional structure in response to several tragic events within the Cornell community, including a Cornell sophomore’s death and a report of sexual assault and drugging at a fraternity.

In the usual Ignite structure, two students share a testimony of coming to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and experiences as a Christian. These testimonies are placed sporadically between the reading of a Psalm and sets of worship. On Friday, Ignite removed the student testimonials, extending the time allotted for worship and prayer.

“This semester, we felt that it was more important to kind of hold the space for all of us to engage with one another in a way that is more active than listening to a student speaker and discussing that,” Kim said.

The event clocked at almost two and a half hours, with one of the ﬁnal songs paired with a Christian mosh pit to “No One” by Elevation Worship. Despite the reverent nature of Ignite and dim, atmospheric lighting, students danced and chanted their praises throughout Sage Chapel’s pews.

Joseph Kim ’25, a member of the Ignite worship team, shared, “I think right now, given everything that’s happening on campus, I think it’s super important as Christians to come together and pray about it, and pray about healing, pray about comfort for those that are in need.”

At the event, the Ignite team announced plans to expand to a state-wide worship event starting Easter Sunday next semester. In addition to students, Ignite is currently attended by alumni and Ithaca locals.

“It’s the event that brings together Christians all over campus and people who aren’t on campus anymore,” said attendee Winnie Hui ’21.

Ciera Wolff ’28 and Cassidy Beard ’25, members of Cru Cornell, came with the intention of “celebrating Jesus” and to “mourn and ﬁnd light in the situation” of the week‘s heaviness.

“I have never seen this many people, this many believers like in one speciﬁc location on this campus up until this point, so that was really awesome,” Wolff said.

Matthew Korniczky ’28 contributed reporting.

Anjelina Gonzalez can be reached at ang54@ cornell.edu.

Cornell Club Aims to Reduce Overdose Deaths Trough Advocacy, Education

By ROHITH TSUNDUPALLI and MATT MICHAILOFF Sun Contributors

Nov. 18 — The national overdose death rate nearly quadrupled over the last two decades, reaching 32.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After witnessing the growing problem of drug overdose in his hometown of New York City, Kevin Ourvan ’25 decided to take action.

Last fall, he established Cornell’s chapter of End Overdose — a nationwide non-proﬁt organization working to reduce overdose deaths through medical intervention and public education.

“End Overdose’s purpose is to end overdose in our community through education, awareness and equipping individuals with the proper tools and knowledge to respond to an overdose in the event of one,” Ourvan said. “As a whole organization nationally, we have chapters on different campuses, and each chapter goes out to teach people how to respond to the issue.”

The End Overdose chapter at Cornell seeks to engage individuals on campus and in the greater Ithaca community, including student organizations and extracurricular groups.

Ourvan said the easiest way for Cornell students and organizations to support their work is to schedule a training session with them.

“We tackle the issue in a more top-down way, where we go to clubs, fraternities, sororities, and residence halls and talk to them about overdose,” Ouvran said. “We are now trying to get into bars in the Ithaca community. Our work is not just restricted to the campus.”

“End Overdose’s purpose is to end overdose in our community through education, awareness and equipping individuals with the proper tools and knowledge to respond to an overdose in the event of one.”

Kevin Ourvan ’25

End Overdose Club receives Narcan kits and fentanyl test strips from the national organization, which are distributed to the campus and local

community, at no cost. Additionally, the chapter holds fundraisers including food and sticker sales to sustain its operations.

End Overdose trained 120 people in the community last spring and has instructed another 500 throughout the fall semester, according to Ourvan. The club welcomed seven new members this fall, including Kimia Shahriyar ’28, who previously worked with the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition and taught people how to use Narcan and Naloxone at Rutgers University.

Garret Sisler ’28 was also inspired to join the club, having prior experience in opioid prevention. Sisler was personally compelled to make a difference after witnessing the pain caused by a family member’s heroin addiction. In high school, he hosted an opioid crisis symposium in which he presented his research about addiction.

“Finding End Overdose was a continuation of that,” Sisler said. “Now, I can actually help and save lives and have more of an impact on ending overdose. A big reason I joined [End Overdose] is knowing that I’ll be able to learn how to educate other people about how and when to intervene

during a suspected overdose.”

Club members emphasized how End Overdose’s work extends beyond Cornell’s campus. They aim to equip students with lasting skills to respond effectively in life-threatening situations.

“Now, I can actually help and save lives and have more of an impact on ending overdose.”

Garret Sisler ’28

“A really important stat that we like to reference is that in nearly 40 percent of overdoses, there was somebody else who was present,” Shahriyar said. “We want people to know that you could be that person. We need people to know what to do in an emergency like that. If you have the resources and knowledge to do something at that moment, you could be the deciding factor in saving someone’s life.”

Rohith Tsundupalli and Matt Michailof can be reached at rt535@cornell.edu and mcm398@ cornell.edu.

& &

Student Artist Spotlight: Alexa Miller

MELISSA MOON ARTS & CULTURE CONTRIBUTOR

On Nov. 15, Alexa Miller ’25, a BFA student from Long Island, brought me to her studio in Tjaden Hall to talk about her art. From the moment I stepped into her domain, the walls and ﬂoor littered with brightly colored, eye-catching pieces, I was in awe of Miller’s command of color and material. We sat down and she told me about her artistic background, her evolution since coming to Cornell, and how art connects her to her heritage.

Miller identified her kindergarten years as the catalyst for her creativity. “Kindergarten was when I first started taking private art classes outside of regular school … Once I started there, I never stopped going.” Of her first art teacher, Susan, Miller had only good things to say. “She has been the biggest motivator for me as an artist because … she basically watched me grow up while teaching me everything I know about painting and life drawing.” Having started making art so young, Miller has had plenty of time to grow and evolve as an artist, though much of that evolution did happen at Cornell. “Cornell has influenced so much of my art practice now. Once I took Papermaking and Intro to Printmaking at Cornell — I sound like an advertisement — those honestly completely changed my art practice.” Papermaking and printmaking were mediums Miller hadn’t experimented with before coming to Cornell, but with the access and experience her classes provided, Miller fell in love with the process and materiality of the mediums.

“I think there’s something so profound about hand making work and I think there’s such a rawness to craft,” she shared. She explores many mediums, but works often with wood-block printing and fabric quilts. Materiality is extremely important to her. In

choosing her materials and mediums, Miller said, “I mostly do printmaking now, but also oil painting and acrylic painting sometimes. I have been experimenting recently with incorporating fabric into my paintings and sewing into the canvas. And I’ve also worked a lot with denim. I’ve made paper out of denim. I keep it as sort of a motif in my work … Part of my thesis is making quilts, and I’ve been working to push the limits of the quilt in a way that goes beyond just the normal fabric quilt.” But beyond fabric, print and paint, Miller has found her niche in handmade paper.

When Miller starts a new project, she immediately turns to working in handmade paper. “Before I start the process [of making art], I have to make my own paper. I almost never buy store-bought paper. I took Papermaking a year ago and I just fell in love with it. You can make paper out of almost anything,” she said, showing me some of the paper she’d made out of onion skins. As for what is printed on that paper, Miller ﬁnds much of her inspiration in her heritage. “A lot of my process is working with family photos and working from archives, speciﬁcally my family’s archives. Back at home we have a dark brown chest in the living room that has all of these family photos that have been collected … I normally start my process there by going into the chest and pulling photos and just thinking about what interests me.” In drawing from her personal experiences, Miller establishes the major themes of her work. She said, “One of the main things I would say is important to me in my work is Jewish heritage and the representation of the Jewish community, looking at the past and seeing how that culture has shifted over time, too.”

That profoundness and deep personal connection was evident when I looked at her pieces, but they also displayed the creativity and fun Miller has when experimenting. To me, the questions she asks when creating are what help to make them so visually strik-

ing: “How can I change this? Or how can I take my fabric quilts and push it to being a painting? Or how can I take these family photos and make them accessible to the world? How can I convey this idea through the process of printmaking? What does carving tell me about myself and the choices that I make? What gestures are used to create a screen print that interests me? Why does papermaking feel necessary to me?” Through her art, Miller conducts these investigations into herself, her culture and her past, and ﬁnds answers about her identity. That is what makes her art so visually striking — the combination of deep care for both the material and the subject matter.

Melissa Moon is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at mm3457@cornell.edu.

Te Sun’s Interview with Alice Fulton MFA ’82

CAIDAN PILARSKI ARTS & CULTURE CONTRIBUTOR

Think of a profession that you associate with physical labor … bricklayer? Janitor? Lumberjack? What about a profession associated with education … professor? Lawyer? Scientist? And what about a profession associated with wisdom? What would you say?

For me, I would say the poet. The poet explores reality, themselves, ideas, feelings and language itself via their art. Their work exists not only to entertain but to deepen comprehension of living and experience itself. For many centuries, the role of the poet was much appreciated in society; today, I personally feel as though people couldn’t care less about this profession or artform, or at least don’t take it as seriously as they should. I think it would be helpful to reinvigorate the people via the recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature and Cornellian, Alice Fulton MFA ’82.

About 22 years ago, The Sun interviewed Fulton. I think that still holds value and recommend you check it out. Still, it was 22 years ago, so I reached out to Fulton and asked her a few questions. Hopefully they can prompt the students and

faculty here to think intensively about poetry and beyond.

CP: What is poetry?

AF: I’ve noticed that “poetic” often is a description applied to things that have nothing to do with poetry by people who’ve never read an actual poem. I think that’s a misuse of the word. Poetry is a written text. It’s made of language that withholds and implies, that resonates rather than expounds or explains. Its components include subtlety, freshness, concision, music or rhythm. Those aspects seem intrinsic. Unlineated works can be poetic, but the poetic line, with its intentional enjambments, allows for resonance and ambiguity: for instance, parts of speech or syntax can shift over the enjambment. I like poems that surprise, that are in some way original and free of cliche. Poets need to read vast amounts of poetry, old and new, but especially old, in order to recognize worn territory and not reinvent the wheel. As I wrote in an essay, we imitate when we think we innovate, and we innovate when we think we imitate.

CP: How do you see your role as a poet playing out in your life? What sort of inﬂuence do you want to have?

AF: It’s easier to think of how my life plays out in the poems than vice versa. Though “poet”

is part of my identity, I don’t self-consciously assume the role of poet. That role comes with a lot of cultural baggage and misunderstanding. To most people, the label “poet” sounds pretentious or silly. And as Robert Frost said, “poet is a praise word,” so applying it too often or too freely to oneself might be a little narcissistic. Despite these misgivings, I do think that poetry has changed my life. Writing poetry led me to think more deeply and widely — about cultural and intellectual issues as well as the great lyric themes of time, death and love. Writing poetry, devoting my life to it, also gave me the chance to teach and help others encounter the possibilities of language in new ways. I hope studying and writing poetry encourages students to think about subjects they might not have encountered otherwise. It might sound smarmy, but I’d like to be an inﬂuence for the good, to promote compassion toward human and nonhuman animals. I hope my poetry, and sometimes my presence, might make a very small contribution to that large effort.

CP: How would you convince people who typically are disinterested in poetry to give it a shot?

AF: A close friend’s enthusiasm for a poet or poem might be a good introduction. A

poem you love can be a great catalyst for interesting conversations. And it’s good for people to read poems that reﬂect their own feelings or situations in some way. For instance, I’d encourage all Cornell students to read “Ithaka” by Constantine Cavafy, a simple poem that I ﬁnd very moving because of my own experience here. People also can discover poetry by chance, on their own, though that requires luck.

Personally, I wouldn’t try to convince anyone truly uninterested to read poetry. But if the subject came up and they were open to it, I’d suggest some of the classic poets I loved when I ﬁrst began to read poetry: Shakespeare’s sonnets, Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath. Robert Frost is accessible, surprising and charming. Among contemporary poets, for people who haven’t read much poetry, I’d suggest Lyn Lifshin (beat, confessional, lyric, feminist, protest, post-Dickinson); A.R. Ammons (spiritual, nature, lyric tradition, post-lyric, romantic, post-romantic); W.D. Snodgrass (confessional, formalist, political, protest, romantic and post-romantic traditions); Diane Wakowski (beat, confessional, narrative, diaristic); Rita Dove (formalist, history, biography, lyric); Colleen McElroy (lyric, history, oral tradition). A few of

these poets are close to a narrative prose model, which can be comfortable for readers who haven’t read poetry. I also think writing poetry is a great way to appreciate and sometimes become enthralled with its possibilities. When people, poets in this case, are very good at something, they make it look effortless. But if you try it yourself you realize that the qualities you admired don’t come readily. It can take years of devoted practice.

CP: What is a poem of yours that you wish more people not only read, but understood fully?

AF: I’ll name a few. Writers tend to be most engaged with their most recent book. From my newest collection, Coloratura On A Silence Found In Many Expressive Systems, I’d like readers to read and understand “Netherlandish,” which has both mystical and worldly implications. From my book Sensual Math, I’d pick “Southbound In A Northbound Lane,” a feminist, rebellious poem that suits this cultural moment. From Felt, “The Permeable Past Tense Of Feel,” a poem that addresses animal suffering in the context of ecology and the environment.

Caidan Pilarski is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at cwp56@cornell.edu

Pro-Palestinian Activist Orgs Pole Posse Welcomes All Performers

Adapt After Student Suspensions

By ANGELINA TANG Sun Staff Writer

Nov. 18 — After Jacob Berman ’25 was served a three-year no-trespass order in connection to the Sept. 18 career fair shutdown, he requested an exemption to attend Cornell’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace’s weekly Shabbat services from the Ofﬁce of Student Conduct and Community Standards. This request was denied.

JVP, which Berman serves as the vice president of, is an anti-Zionist Jewish student organization that stands with Palestinian liberation. Following Berman’s suspension, JVP moved many of its activities including Shabbat off campus, allowing Berman to continue to assist in event organizing and leading services.

Attendance at off-campus events including Shabbat services has been higher than when they operated on campus, according to Berman.

Pro-Palestinian student organizations have adjusted operations following administrative punishments to individuals involved in the Sept. 18 career fair shutdown, where protesters shoved past police ofﬁcers.

Organizations shifted focus on advocating for the suspended students, while continuing their previous actions, including ﬁghting for divestment.

Fifteen students have been suspended with ﬁve banned from campus altogether for several years, according to an Oct. 28 statement from Cornell’s chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America.

Some of the students who have been banned from campus for three years include Atakan Deviren ’27, the former co-chair of YDSA, as well as Berman.

Deviren was one of three students who appeared in court on Nov. 6 over arrests relating to the career fair disruption. While the two other students pleaded not guilty,

and were later de-enrolled, according to an Instagram post by the Coalition for Mutual Liberation on Friday, Deviren’s case was dismissed on a technicality.

YDSA has continued holding many events on campus, including educational meetings regarding pro-Palestinian activism and an anti-fascism rally on Ho Plaza and the Ithaca Commons. They have also been holding phone banks, encouraging the Cornell community to pressure administrators to revert the student suspensions.

YDSA leadership declined several requests for an interview with The Sun.

JVP is focusing on planning more off-campus events, including potential future collaborations with the local organization Ithaca Committee for Justice in Palestine. They are trying to balance this with on-campus events that are more accessible for students living there.

JVP is also seeking to create a new student organization called Chavurah, which is meant to be a non-Zionist Jewish space for religious and cultural practice.

Under the guidance of faculty advisor Prof. Dan Hirschman, sociology, JVP has been working with the Cornell Jewish Alliance for Justice — a small, informal group of Jewish faculty who are working “parallel to their efforts,” Hirschman said.

As a whole, YDSA, JVP and CML have been focusing efforts on helping the suspended students, mainly through phone banks. CML has pushed for the community to continue pressuring the administration to overturn the suspensions and provide amnesty from eviction through phone calls, emails and petitions after the de-enrollments of two students.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Angelina Tang can be reached at atang@cornellsun.com.

By LORNA DING Sun Contributor

Nov. 19 — With no auditions, no experience necessary and no strict commitment, Pole Posse is not like other dance groups on campus. Whether a beginner or a pro, all aspiring pole performers are welcome.

“If you could do a pole walk, you could perform. Pole walk is [when] you stand and you walk around the pole,” said Jacqueline Bass ’27, the vice president of Pole Posse. “We like to be very level-friendly, and we like to get [beginners] involved, and we make it easier for people who have never performed before.”

In addition to holding weekly pole dancing classes, the organization has expanded its outreach to a larger mission — fostering a safe space for anyone to pole dance. Even experienced dancers like Co-President Yang Gao, a graduate student, say they continue to learn from other dancers.

“We all help each other out, we teach each other moves and I just love seeing

the diversity,” Gao said. “It’s not about like, ‘Oh, I have the most years of experience.’ It doesn’t mean that I know all these moves that other people [don’t]. Everybody has moves that suit them and they do better.”

With its origins in sex work, pole dancing often holds negative stereotypes that extend to its performers, Bass said.

“People with less knowledge immediately associate [pole dancing] with sex work and stripping, which is understandable because its roots are in stripping and sex work,” Bass said.

However, Pole Posse’s goal is to challenge this stereotype and honor the multitudes of expressions within pole dancing.

Recently, the club has hosted workshops for afﬁnity groups including trans/ non-binary and plus-size dancers, according to Social Chair Tiernan Tobin ’25.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Lorna Ding can be reached at lcd54@cornell.edu.

Press Bay Court Adds Tree Locally Owned Businesses

By SHUBHA GAUTAM Sun

Nov. 14 — Located just past New Delhi Diamond’s on West Green Street, Press Bay Court and Alley is a growing marketplace that various locally owned businesses call home. Renovated storage bays house these “micro-retail spaces,” and the six-year-old Press Bay Court continues to drive foot trafﬁc downtown through the addition of new niche businesses. By the end of summer 2024, Asempe Kitchen, Poured Candle Bar and Woodpepper all opened their doors to Ithacans.

Asempe Kitchen

Specializing in plant-based West African cuisine, Asempe Kitchen found its roots in chef Kuukua Yomekpe’s Ohio home in 2016. Although it was not ﬁnancially viable for her to quit her full-time job, Yomekpe — or chef Kuukua, as she prefers to be called — eventually moved to Ithaca and established Asempe as a staple at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market. Soon after, the restaurant found its home in Press Bay Court in August.

Chef Kuukua said Press Bay interested her as a possible location for a brick-and-mortar version of Asempe ever since she attended their Thanksgiving Festival in 2021. She said it was “serendipitous” when a retail spot became available. Since Asempe Kitchen opened in its new location, Chef Kuukua said that she has found a community.

“We have been very, very well-received,” Chef Kuukua said. “I have found a lot

of support from different people, and the community in general has been very, very supportive.”

Alongside catering and in-seat dining options, Asempe Kitchen hosts an “Afrobeats Brunch” every other Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Food is served alongside a live Afrobeats DJ performance. Chef Kuukua said despite feeling overwhelmed as a new business owner, she strives to make Asempe an inviting space for all.

“We are a queer- and minority-owned business, and so I like to put that up front so people know that we are very supportive in whatever form they choose to show up,”

Chef Kuukua said.

Poured Candle Bar

Unlike Asempe Kitchen, the Poured Candle Bar in Press Bay Court is the business’ second physical location. The space resembles a quaint restaurant, with two walls lined with an open bar and the rest of the area ﬁlled with seating arrangements. The store, which opened in Ithaca in mid-July after renovations, offers a unique experience where customers create their own candles, colognes, perfumes and reed diffusers, according to its retail space manager Jordan Johnson.

Poured Candle opened its main branch in Hudson, N.Y. in 2020, and its co-founders Dennis Green and Ricky Tiscareno oversee both locations and the online shop while Johnson manages the Ithaca store.

Johnson said Press Bay is a welcoming environment, and she “couldn’t have asked for better neighbors.” She said it is valuable to

be near businesses that have a similar mission, and managing the space has been an overall rewarding experience.

“The ﬁrst thing I always hear [when] people come in [is] an audible, ‘Wow, what is this place?’ Because the aesthetics here are so different from what you would see from a lot of other businesses around. I call it a New York City vibe here in Ithaca,” Johnson said. “A lot of people love that you get to go through the […] same experience as a person next to you, but you walk out with an entirely different, unique-to-you product that you get to use.”

Poured Candle will host drag queen Sherry Vine on Dec. 12 as she goes on her “Holiday Package” tour along the East Coast. Vine typically does risque parodies of holiday songs at her shows, and her event at Poured Candle will be a 21+ only experience. Johnson said that since the event nears the end of the fall semester, she hopes “it will be a nice break from academics.”

Woodpepper

Dane Percy’s journey in bread baking began when he took a couple years off from his job as a lab technician working in marine science to volunteer in AmeriCorps in 2008. While working in a community that served adults with special needs, he met a husband and wife baking team who taught him how to bake bread. Percy said while having kids and going through a divorce, bread baking has remained a constant in his life.

For Percy, the owner and baker at Woodpepper — a naturally leavened

organic bread shop — opening the store in September means he is now pursuing bread baking full-time. He is the sole baker and sells a variety of white flour, high-extraction flour and whole-meal flour breads. Besides traditional varieties such as corn, sesame and sandwich breads, he sells original breads like the Backpacker, which has an organic whole rye flour base with organic sunflower seeds, water, natural levain and sea salt.

The local response to Woodpepper has been positive, Percy said, and interest has steadily increased over the six weeks it has been open. Although he said handling personal responsibilities while also running a business can be difﬁcult, he “can’t complain.”

“There is always a certain sense of trepidation with business, especially in the food world, but the focus [at Woodpepper] is pretty clear, and I think people like to see that focus.”

Although Percy said he is not planning to host any special events or introduce new breads for the holiday season, he is excited to see his baking become a part of others’ holiday celebrations.

“I don’t have the skill set you need to throw in something festive for the holidays,” Percy said. “What I have noticed in my baking life is that people just love to add what I do normally to their events, and that makes me feel really special that something that I do normally can elevate people’s tables.”

sg2563@cornell.edu.

Contributor

Shubha Gautam can be reached at

LELANI BURKE / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Diverse dancers | Pole Posse hosts afﬁnity group workshops to showcase diverse performers.

Football Upsets Dartmouth, Salutes 28 Seniors

By JANE McNALLY and ELI FASTIFF Sun Sports Editor and Sun Staff Writer

Looking to salute its seniors, football took Schoellkopf Field for the ﬁnal time in 2024 searching for a seemingly improbable win against Dartmouth.

The Big Green, undefeated on the road and boasting a 7-1 overall record, entered as clear favorites.

In a second half riddled with interceptions and possession changes, Cornell ultimately prevailed. A late offensive push — including 20 fourth-quarter points –– put Cornell on top, 39-22, giving its seniors one ﬁnal salute on Schoellkopf Field.

“Just great. Great performance by everybody. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t clean, but we fought [and] we played hard and competitive,” said head coach Dan Swanstrom.

Coming off a highly contested offensive-minded battle against the University of Pennsylvania, Saturday’s game was anything but. The Red’s defense looked much stronger against one of the Ivy League’s top teams. Cornell also did an exceptional job forcing fumbles and interceptions, making them worthwhile with 17 points scored off Dartmouth (7-2, 4-2 Ivy) turnovers.

On the opening drive of the game, Cornell (4-5, 3-3 Ivy) caught a break when senior quarterback Jameson Wang drew a roughing the passer call on third down. The Red drove down the ﬁeld and converted the penalty into three points thanks to a kick from sophomore kicker Alan Zhao. The 48-yarder is the longest conversion of Zhao’s career.

After forcing a Big Green three and out, Cornell’s offense took the ﬁeld with great ﬁeld position at the 50-yard line thanks to a 17-yard Dartmouth punt.

After getting stopped on the ﬁrst three plays of the drive, Swanstrom left the offense out on the ﬁeld on fourth-and-two. With Wang in the shotgun, it seemed as if the Red were primed to take a risk on early risk. Instead, a surprise Wang pooch punt rolled into the endzone.

A week after a historically bad performance in its 67-49 loss to Penn, Cornell’s defense stood tall for a second straight drive and Cornell’s offense returned to the ﬁeld with just

under five minutes to go in the first quarter. After a 14-play drive that bled into the second quarter and was aided by a successful fake punt (the second successful fake in as many games), a Zhao field goal put the Red up six.

“A lot of things needed to change [after the last game], we needed to play better,” Swanstrom said. “[Today], we just ran and hit and knocked people back. It was good to see that.”

Cornell dominated the first quarter, running 26 plays and picking up 68 yards to Darmtouth’s six plays and 13 yards. However, on its first drive of the second quarter, Dartmouth’s offense drove down the field and into the endzone on a 10-yard QB keeper to take the lead 7-6. The big play of the drive, a 36-yard catch and run, came in part thanks to a Cornell missed tackle.

On its next opportunity on offense, the Red came storming down the ﬁeld looking to regain its lead. Led by a drive including a 30-yard pass from Wang to junior wide receiver Doryn Smith, the Red ﬁnally found the endzone after another long drive. Junior wide receiver Parker Woodring caught the ball off a short pass from Wang.

Dartmouth quickly came roaring back, converting a 34-yard pass that put the Big Green in Cornell territory. But a seven-yard loss on a rushing play forced Dartmouth to try a 48-yard ﬁeld goal, which just missed wide and kept the Red ahead.

After the ensuing Cornell drive stalled out, Dartmouth took over on the Big Green 20 with just over a minute and a half left in the ﬁrst half. Dartmouth picked up a ﬁrst down and seemed primed to put up points and take momentum into halftime, but Dartmouth quarterback Jackson Proctor was intercepted by freshman cornerback Tyler Gibson.

Wang and his offense took over inside the red zone looking to amass a larger lead before halftime, but on its ﬁrst play of the drive, Wang was promptly picked off by a Dartmouth player in the endzone with 30 seconds left in the half. Dartmouth took over but couldn’t get much going in a short period of time, leaving the teams heading for their locker rooms with Cornell up 13-7.

Dartmouth received the kickoff for the second half and immediately gained a pair of ﬁrst downs, looking to erase the deﬁcit.

The Cornell defense held strong, though, as Gibson sacked Proctor and the Red defensive line ultimately forced a punt at the 12:09 mark.

A huge 17-yard rush from Wang on third down was ultimately wasted as the quarterback threw his second interception of the game. Dartmouth’s Patrick Campbell made a leaping catch and put the Big Green in scoring position, starting a drive on the 19-yard line. The interception would go on to hurt Cornell, as the Big Green needed just four plays to ﬁnd the endzone, successfully kicking the extra point and taking a slight lead, 14-13.

Much like its last drive, the ensuing drive for Cornell ended in yet another Wang interception, his third of the afternoon. It marks the second straight game where Wang was intercepted three times.

But in an almost unbelievable fashion, Dartmouth followed that up with another interception of its own. This time, Cornell would make the Big Green pay, as Wang completed a 14-yard rush into the endzone to give Cornell the lead with 1:17 left in the quarter. The Red tried the two-point conversion for an opportunity to go up seven, but sophomore wide receiver Samuel Musungu dropped the pass, holding the score at 19-14.

After a defensive stand that sent Dartmouth’s offense off the ﬁeld, Cornell took over early in the fourth quarter with an

opportunity to extend its lead –– and that’s exactly what the Red did. The eight-play, 60-yard drive ended with a Wang to Musungu connection in the endzone, capped off with a successful Zhao extra point that put Cornell up by 12.

Two more times Dartmouth would get a chance with the ball, and twice Cornell turned it over. The ﬁrst interception led to three points tacked on from a Zhao kick, which preceded a fumble recovered and endzone run by senior lineman Hunter Sloan.

A Dartmouth touchdown with 2:28 left didn’t end up mattering much, as Cornell was able to eat the clock and conclude its final drive with a Zhao field goal. His fourth field goal of the day ties the Cornell single-game record for field goals made.

“I hope [the seniors] are the original rebirth of this program and take us to a different place,” Swanstrom said. “They’re the ﬁrst guys that bought into all this, so hopefully it’s the start of something really good here at Cornell.”

The Red will take on Columbia in the Empire State Bowl next Saturday in its ﬁnal contest of the season. Kickoff in New York City is slated for noon and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Jane McNally and Eli Fastif can be reached at jmcnally@cornellsun.com and efastif@ cornellsun.com.

Volleyball Stuns Yale, Clinches Tird Seed in Ivy Tournament

By DYLAN GRAFF Sun Staff Writer

Newman Arena shook as freshman middle blocker Mackenzie Parsons slammed the Red’s ﬁfteenth point into the ground on Saturday night. In the past seven years, Cornell (14-9, 8-6 Ivy) has won just four total sets against Yale (17-5, 12-2 Ivy). On Saturday, it strung together three in a row to pull off a reverse sweep against a Yale team that has only lost twice in conference play over the past three seasons.

“We’ve worked really hard in the last year to kind of pinpoint where we’re going wrong, and it feels like everything came to fruition tonight,” said head coach Trudy Vande Berg. “I knew we could beat them. In our coaching staff, we all knew we could beat them. We just needed to put it together tonight.”

It was a game that just felt right. The energy in the building was contagious, as fans rallied behind the team and its seniors who were being honored for senior night. The Red fed off that energy, playing with intensity and precision that Yale couldn’t match. It showed that entering the Ivy League Tournament next week, there isn’t a team that the Red can’t compete with, and it certainly will give players conﬁdence

as it prepares for the Bulldogs again in the coming days.

The ﬁrst set was back and forth but ultimately won by Yale with a score of 27-25. The second was another battle that saw the Bulldogs come out on top, 26-24. Despite the early setbacks, the Red refused to be discouraged. Instead, players fought back with relentless determination in the third and fourth sets, ultimately leveling the match at two sets apiece.

“The ﬁrst two sets were really close tonight, so we knew we were right there,” Vande Berg said. “We used our frustration to keep going, and we started to pick apart at the stuff that we knew that they like to do.”

Despite Yale’s strengths as a team, Cornell had a game plan.

“Yale is one of the best passing teams in the conference, and we had them out of system quite a lot,” Vande Berg said. “In the ﬁfth set, when we served those ﬁrst couple of balls and we were just rocketing them, I knew we were in a much better mental place.”

During the ﬁfth set, each point the Red scored seemed to captivate the arena more and more. It had been a career night for a lot of players, though everyone was contributing toward the end of the match.

Parsons continued her hot play, racking up a

career-high 21 kills on an impressive .541 clip to ofﬁcially set the new Cornell record for single-season attack rate. Sophomore outside hitter Jaida Sione had a career-high 15 kills on an efﬁcient .289 clip.

The win was an apt farewell to the Red’s senior class.

“They haven’t been a part of a winning program since they’ve been here,” Vande Berg said. “They’ve all worked incredibly hard to shift the culture into everything they can. To leave the program better than it was when they got here was their ultimate goal, and they deﬁnitely did a lot to change it. Their leadership and that experience out there really helped us.”

While the Red dropped a ﬁve-set heartbreaker to Brown the day before, it’s tough to imagine members of the team are too saddened by that loss. As it enters the Ivy League Tournament, the Red appears to be peaking at the perfect time.

Next weekend, Cornell goes on the road to play Yale at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Ivy League Tournament semiﬁnal. The next day, it will play either Brown or Princeton at 6 p.m. in either the ﬁnal or the third-place game. Both games can be streamed live on ESPN+.

Dylan Graf can be reached at dgraf@cornellsun.com.

FOOTBALL

VOLLEYBALL

Dartmouth done | Cornell scored 20 fourth-quarter points in its victory over Dartmouth on Saturday.