6-6-4 entire issue hi res

R eunion e dition 2024

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Prof. Arrested at Coulter Talk

This story was originally published on April 17.

Ann Coulter ’84, a controversial conservative media personality, made her return to campus on Tuesday with a talk entitled “Immigration: The Conspiracy To End America.”

Audiences largely did not disrupt Coulter. However, Prof. Monica Cornejo was arrested during the question and answer section due to disorderly behavior.

At Coulter’s last speaking appearance at Cornell in November 2022, numerous attendees protested, resulting in the removal of eight audience members and an early end to the event.

In March, The Sun broke news of Coulter’s invitation to campus, which was spearheaded by Provost Michael Kotlikoff as an effort to allow diverse perspectives on campus during the current freedom of expression theme year. At the start of the event, Kotlikoff expressed

it was important to allow Coulter to speak again — this time without interruption.

“We’re here really to correct something that happened a year and a half ago when [Coulter] who was invited by Cornell students was prevented from speaking at Cornell, something that I did not attend,” Kotlikoff said. “I wish to remind all participants that Cornell values free and open inquiry and expression and strives to create a community where diverse opinions can be expressed.”

Kotlikoff made it clear to attendees that Coulter had the right to speak without intimidation and that individuals who chose to interrupt the event would face consequences.

“Actions that prevent a speaker’s ability to be heard or the right of others to listen and see are a violation of University policy [and violators will] be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards or other appropriate officials, which may lead to a notation on the conduct record or transcript,” Kotlikoff said.

See COULTER page 6

Former Sun Editor Keri Blakinger

’14 Named Pulitzer Prize Finalist

By KATE SANDERS Sun News Editor

Former Sun staff writer and magazine editor Keri Blakinger ’14 was named a 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in feature writing for her piece “When Wizards and Orcs Came to Death Row” — a portrait of men on death row in Texas.

Since 2023, Blakinger has written for the Los Angeles Times, where she covers criminal justice and the Los Angeles Police. As someone who has served prison time in the past over a 2010 drug charge, Blakinger explained that her lived experience strengthens her incarceration coverage.

“The fact that I had done time actually gave me additional knowledge when covering these topics, and I think it also made it feel more meaningful when I would write a story that would have some

kind of impact.”

The piece, published by the Marshall Project, profiles two men — Billy Wardlow and Tony Ford — who built community with other men on death row through playing Dungeons and Dragons, a popular role-playing game, despite intense barriers.

In an interview with The Sun, Blakinger explained some of the challenges of reporting on death row in Texas — where inmates face some of the harshest and most isolating restrictions in the country. Texas death row limits how often reporters can talk to inmates, Blakinger explained.

“For a long time, the rules have been that you can only visit the same inmate once every ninety days, and it’s only for a one-hour interview,” Blakinger said. “So that meant that I could only interview the main subjects of the story for

one hour every three months.”

Blakinger also described legal challenges with reporting on death row. Many death row inmates feared the impact being named in the story would have on their cases. And in the midst of Blakinger’s three years of reporting, one of her subjects — Wardlow — was executed.

Blakinger’s story does not just focus on the harsh conditions inmates face on death row. She details the way they cope by crafting dice, passing messages cell-to-cell and drawing intricate maps.

“Instead of simply describing how terrible it is to spend two decades in solitary, I could demonstrate the lengths that these guys have to go to to overcome living that way,” Blakinger said.

This story was originally published on May 9.

President Martha Pollack announced that she will retire from her position on June 30, in an email sent to the Cornell community on Thursday, May 9.

Provost Michael Kotlikoff will serve as interim president for a two-year term beginning on July 1, 2024, according to a follow-up email sent by Kraig Kayser MBA ’84, chair of the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees will establish a committee to select the University’s 15th president six to nine months before Kotlikoff’s term ends.

Pollack acknowledged that there “will be lots of speculation about [her] decision” and emphasized that she independently decided to retire from her role after “extensive reflection.”

Pollack’s retirement follows a year of campus controversies spurred from the IsraelHamas war, including Prof. Russell Rickford, history, saying that he was “exhilarated” by Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Patrick Dai ’24 posting antisemitic threats.

Throughout the year, the Coalition for Mutual Liberation — a pro-Palestine coalition of over 40 on and off-campus organizations — occupied Day Hall, held die-ins in libraries and other campus buildings and established an encampment on the Arts Quad. Demonstrators urged the University to divest from weapons manufacturers, advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza, acknowledge Islamophobia on campus and cease educational ties with Israeli institutions.

By JULIA SENZON and ANUSHKA SHOREWALA Sun Managing Editor and Sun Assistant News Editor

NINA DAVIS / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Academic arrested | Prof. Monica Cornejo, communication, was arrested during the Q&A portion of Ann Coulter’s ’84 lecture.

By DINA SHLUFMAN, MATTHEW KIVIAT and BENJAMIN LEYNSE Sun Assistant News Editor, Sun News Editor and Sun Staff Writer

Crimson conquered | Cornell’s sweep of Harvard sends the Red to Lake Placid ECAA Championships for second straight year.

CYNTHIA TSENG / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Encampment statement | Tents participating in Pro-Palestine encampment on the Arts Quad reflect the demands and values of protestors involved in the encampment.

NINA DAVIS / SUN PHOTO EDITOR

One last chime | McGraw Tower will be closed to visitors until November 2024 as construction crews work to renovate the tower.

ANTHONY CORRALES / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Eager eclipse-watchers | On April 8th, Cornell students were afforded the opportunity to witness a rare solar eclipse, with 100 percent totality observed in Upstate New York.

MING DEMERS/SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Star of David | A student lights a candle — adding it to the form of the Star of David — in remembrance of those who lost their lives in October 7th attacks.

ANTHONY CORRALES / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Pumpkin prankster | A pumpkin topped the clocktower bringing an old lore from 1997 back.

JULIA NAGEL / SUN FIILE PHOTO

Runway Ryan | Vice President Ryan Lombardi takes the Cornell Fashion Collective stage in dystopian dresswear, an original Cardinal Robinson ’24 look.

ANTHONY CORRALES / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Die-in in Klarman | Two hundreds students staged a “die-in” protest in Klarman Hall to demonstrate Palestinian suffering in Gaza.

MING DEMERS / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Big Red basketball | Men’s Basketball gets first ever National Invitation Tourament invite after 22-win season.

JASON WU / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Exhibit: Solar Eclipses Around the World

9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Rotunda of Kroch

Library

Pride

12 p.m., RPCC

Reunion Infomation Center

2 - 6 p.m., RPCC and Statler Hall

Tour: Beebe Lake Natural History

Walk

2 - 3:30 p.m., Tang Welcome Center

Savage Club Show

8:30 - 10:30 p.m., Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, Klarman Hall

Reunion Issue Staff

Julia Senzon ’26, Dorothy France-Miller ’27, Gabe Levin ’26

Guided Bird Walks

7 - 8 a.m., Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity

Campus Bus Tour

9 - 9:45 a.m., Uris Hall

Cornell Botanic Gardens Tour

9 - 10 a.m., Nevin Welcome Center, Arboretum Road

Canoeing

10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Beebe Beach

CU for Lunch

11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., Terrace Resturant, Statler Hotel

Historical Campus Tour

Noon - 12:50 p.m., Martin Y. Tang Welcome Center

Cascadilla Gorge Hike

1 - 2:30 p.m., College Avenue entrance to trail near Schwartz Center

University Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., Sage Chapel

Reunion Feature: Olin Lecture

3 - 4 p.m., Bailey Hall

Tent Parties

9 p.m. - 1 a.m., Arts Quad

Reunion 5K Run

8 a.m., Cornell Botanic Gardens

Dean’s State of the Law School Address

9 - 10:15 a.m., 184 Myron Taylor Hall

Breakfast at the Library

9 a.m. - 10 a.m., Amit Bhatia Cafe

State of the University Address with Martha E. Pollack

10:30 - 11:30 a.m., Bailey Hall

Cornell Military Network Reception 1:30 - 3:30 p.m., Veteran’s House

Cornell Daily Sun Alumni Reunion

2 - 4 p.m., International Lounge, Willard Straight Hall

“Fun in the Sun” Family Festival 1:30 - 3:30 p.m., Arts Quad

Celebration of Life for Dr. James E. Turner

1:30 - 3:30 p.m., Nevin Welcome Center Tent, Botanic Gardens

Tent Parties

9 p.m. - 1 a.m., Arts Quad

Reception and Tour

Of Cornell Daily Sun Building

4:30 - 6:30 p.m., 139 W. State St.

Redstock

8:45 - 11:45 p.m., Rhodes-Rawlings

Tour of new Chabad Center

9 - 9:45 a.m., 10 - 10:45 a.m., 11 - 11:45 a.m. and noon - 12:45 p.m., Chabad Cornell

Guided Nautral History Hike to Taughannock Falls

1 - 3 p.m., Taughannock Falls Gorge Trail parking lot

This is just a sampling of the events occurring on campus this weekend. For a more detailed schedule, consult your reunion program.

BETH SPERGEL / SUN FILE PHOTO

BETH SPERGEL / SUN FILE PHOTO

Blakinger Named Pulitzer Finalist

PULITZER

Continued from page 1

Throughout the piece, the stories of Wardlow and Ford are interwoven with their D&D storylines, often paralleling real-life events with those in their fantasy world.

Blakinger explained that she was inspired to make this stylistic choice when comparing her notes on Wardlow’s life and D&D character side-by-side and noticing marked similarities between the two.

“It seemed like it was almost the version of himself that he could have been, if only some things had been a little different,” Blakinger said.

This imagination of an alternative version of their lives, Blakinger explained, was one motivating factor for why inmates turned to D&D in solitary confinement.

“A lot of these guys do feel deep regret and remorse, and this is one place in which they are able to envision a world in which things just went differently,” Blakinger said. “People in prison don’t have a lot of agency. If you’re in solitary, you just don’t have a lot of choices you are able to make on a daily basis, and D&D is nothing but choices.”

Blakinger explained that while some infamously intense prisons such as Rikers Island in New York City have received substantial coverage, many lesser-known prisons with similar conditions have received less media attention.

“There [are] some really appalling regional jails in West Virginia that rarely get written about in any sort of national outlet, and there [aren’t] large regional media that’s meaningfully covering West Virginia.”

At The Sun, Blakinger was a staff writer for the news department and editor for Red Letter Daze, a now-defunct weekend magazine supplement. Blakinger recalled covering Student Assembly meetings and explained the value she saw in reporting on systems of governance.

“I think that [with] government or student government reporting, there’s a certain sense that you’re providing a service to the community,” Blakinger said. “You’re telling them what the people who run things are doing, what decisions they’re making [and] what they’re talking about in the room when most of the public is not there to watch.”

Kate Sanders can be reached at ksanders@cornellsun.com.

‘Shantytown’ to the ‘Liberated Zone’: Cornell’s History of Encampments

By ANUSHKA SHOREWALA and MATTHEW

This story was originally published on May 7.

From the Willard Straight Hall takeover in 1969 during parents’ weekend to the Latino Students’ takeover of Day Hall in 1993, civil disobedience has been an integral part of Cornell’s past.

On April 25, the Coalition for Mutual Liberation organized an encampment at Cornell on the Arts Quad with a list of eight demands for the University to consider, joining a nationwide movement of students organizing pro-Palestine encampment protests.

In 1985, students created a “shantytown” encampment to urge the University to divest from companies that conducted business in apartheid South Africa — the government-sanctioned racial segregation and discrimination against nonwhites.

Throughout the 1960s, advocates began to call for divestment from South Africa to protest against the country’s discriminatory practices. Although the movement began in the 1960s, it did not gain popular attraction until the 1980s, when universities across the country — including Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles — started to stage protests to advocate for divestment against South Africa.

In April of 1985, students at Cornell organized a protest, setting up tents behind Day Hall in support of divestment from companies doing business in South Africa.

“As part of the demonstrations, students built a shantytown of cardboard and wooden structures and stray tents behind Day Hall to symbolize the living conditions of many black South Africans,” stated a Sun article published in 1985. “Some 15 protesters lived in these structures during the last weeks of the semester and into the summer months.”

Protesters created a shantytown encampment on campus because they wanted to symbolize the living conditions of Black people in South Africa due to government actions.

Prof. Daniel Schwarz, English, who has taught at Cornell since 1968, remembered the encampment generating widespread support, even having Peter Seeger — an American folk sing-

er and activist — speak in solidarity with the protesters’ efforts when he performed at Bailey Hall on May 4, 1985.

“At the end of that Bailey Hall concert, Seeger said, ‘Let’s all go over to shantytown’ — his appearance was specifically in support against apartheid and in support of that shantytown,” Schwarz said.

A 1986 graduation issue of The Sun highlighted that Pete Seeger also performed in the shantytown, reflecting his support of the protesters.

The University granted students a temporary permit to construct the shantytowns starting on April 22, 1985, and the shantytown remained until June 25, 1985, when it was dismantled by Cornell officials. Throughout this period, protesters orchestrated sit-ins in Day Hall, resulting in over 900 arrests by the time the spring semester ended.

A fire in one of the shacks led the City Fire Department to order the shantytown to be dismantled. While the students stood in front of the shantytown to stop the raze, they were ultimately dragged away by security officials.

American studies lecturer Corey Ryan Earle ’07 wrote about the immediate effects of the shantytown encampment in an email to The Sun.

“The shantytown drew attention to the issues and certainly inspired discussion, and the pressure likely played a role in the Board of Trustees adopting a policy of selective divestment in 1986,” Earle wrote.

In January of 1986, the Board of Trustees recommended new divestment policies that advised that the University selectively divest from companies “that do not work actively and publicly in support of the efforts to bring about the dismantling of the apartheid.”

While Cornell adopted these guidelines, students were still calling for the University to completely divest from companies with South African ties. Students rebuilt shantytowns in October of 1986, which led to 23 arrests.

Dr. Christopher Plowe ’82 M.D. ’86, a voting member of the Board of Trustees from 1983 to 1985, explained that the shantytowns influenced the conversation of divestment within the Board.

“I frankly doubt that Cornell University would have divested from South Africa had it not been for the protest,” Plowe said.

Plowe recalled a Board of Trustee

meeting that took place in Ithaca during the spring of 1985. During this meeting, Plowe had to evacuate the meeting due to the protesters entering the Statler Hotel, then known as the Statler Inn, the location of the Board meeting.

“[As] I and two other trustees were going down a set of stairs at the Statler Inn and a group of protesting students came up the stairs — they asked ‘Hey are you a trustee?’ and I said ‘Yeah, I am actually [a] medical student trustee,’” Plowe said.

Plowe explained that during the meeting, students expressed opposition to existing University investments in South Africa.

“[My] memory is that there were a few students who were chanting or shouting at me,” Plowe said. “But then there were one or two who — when they kind of got the sense [that] I was happy to engage with them — they started chatting me and so we actually had a pretty productive and civil conversation.”

Schwarz expressed that compared to the current “relatively small” Arts Quad protest encampment, there was immense support among the student body for the protesters in the 1985 shantytown.

“It seemed to me that the sympathies of the students and faculty were with the anti-apartheid group,” Schwarz said. “I have been to the encampment four times and there’s never been even a third of a percent of the Cornell community there.”

Schwarz also highlighted that different from the eight current demands from protesters — which include giving

back Indigenous land, divesting from “morally reprehensible activities” and removing police from campus — in the encampment, those in the 1985 shantytown were focused on one issue, which was divesting from South African apartheid.

Schwarz said that because of the complexity of the Israel-Palestine conflict, he thinks that many of the encampment protesters, unlike those in the 1985 encampment, do not understand the multiple issues that are protested at the current encampment.

“What I noticed is that many of the students, the people who are supposedly part of the solidarity group sitting outside the encampment, don’t understand these issues at all,” Schwarz said. “This is in part because the focus is so diffuse and partly because students, wedded to social media, are not as informed as they once were.”

However, Plowe explained that the students who participated in the shantytown did have a real and important impact on the decision-making process of the University in the 80s, expressing confidence that today’s protesters could also exact change.

“And so the simple logic is that it did have an influence in the past so one could reasonably predict that it would have an influence today,” Plowe said. “If history is [a] prologue, then yes, activism and protest [do] have an impact.”

Anushka Shorewala can be reached at ashorewala@cornellsun.com.

Matthew Kiviat can be reached at mkiviat@ corenellsun.com.

Pro-Palestine posters | Encampment particpants make signs urging Cornell trustees to divest from weapons manufacturers tied to Israel.

KIVIAT Sun Assistant News Editor and Sun News Editor

NINA DAVIS / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Cornell Couples Declare “I Do” at Sage Chapel

By ANUSHKA SHOREWALA Sun Staff Writer

This story was originally published on February 14.

Celia and Peter

It was the second day of her first year at Cornell when Celia Rodee ’81 met Peter Cooper ’80, working at Cornell Dining in Balch Hall, a historic all-female residence on North Campus.

When they initially met, Rodee was still dating her high school sweetheart. Rodee and Cooper, however, soon began to develop a strong friendship when working together at Cornell Dining and socializing with their friends. After a year of being friends, Cooper and Rodee started dating, getting engaged only a year later.

“We met working jobs at Cornell Dining and fell in love at Cornell,” Rodee said. “ And Peter gave me his first valentine that spring in February 1978.”

When deciding where to get married, Rodee and Cooper chose Cornell due to both its sentimental significance as where they first met and as a location where they could celebrate and honor their two different faiths. Rodee being Protestant Christian and Cooper being Jewish, Sage Chapel, a non-denominational Christian chapel, stood out as a symbol of unity.

“Cornell was our connection — we met there [and] we fell in love there,” Rodee said. “But we thought that [since] Cornell would be a more neutral place being an interfaith couple, both families would compromise.”

Rodee and Cooper reflected on the multitude of special moments intricately woven into their big day by the campus setting. From the delight of enjoying Purity ice cream at the rehearsal dinner behind Peter’s fraternity, Sigma Phi, to visiting the suspension bridge and reliving the memory of kissing Cooper, Rodee enjoyed every moment commemorating their love in cherished spots.

“Ithaca and Cornell were the places to be,” Cooper said.

Rodee added: “No regrets and I still can’t imagine anywhere else where I would have been married.”

Shweta and Neil

Shweta Modi ’19 and Neil Shah

’19 began dating in their junior year. From their first encounter through mutual friends to their snow day date, their bond grew stronger with each shared memory.

So, when the time came to tie the knot, they knew there was no better spot than the campus that had witnessed their love story unfold. Having their wedding at Cornell gave Modi and Shah a chance to relive some of their favorite moments from their time together at Cornell.

Modi and Shah both come from Indian backgrounds and ensuring their traditions were incorporated in the wedding ceremony was important to the couple. Modi explained that the Cornell and Statler Hotel staff were more than helpful in planning their Indian wedding.

“I was just surprised by the amount of effort the Cornell event staff put into the wedding,” Modi said. “Since Cornell didn’t do many Indian weddings they were so excited to learn about our traditions and make it unique to us. They were curious to learn more.”

From the ceremony at Sage Chapel

to the reception at Statler, Modi and Shah were able to blend their heritage with classic Cornell traditions. Held at Willard Straight Hall, the garba — a traditional Indian dance form performed at pre-wedding celebrations — complete with Dairy Bar ice cream, transported them back to their college days.

During their time at Cornell, Modi and Shah shared a special love for the Boom Boom sauce served at The Terrace Restaurant. Inspired by their love for the sauce, the couple decided to host a Terrace-inspired lunch held at the restaurant.

“We requested a Mexican station with Boom Boom sauce and some other typical things they serve there [at Terrace],” Modi said. “Just to bring back memories for our friends too of going through the line. And at the garba, we served the Dairy Bar ice cream which was a must because we loved having it on campus. … All our guests were just raving over it.”

On the day of the ceremony, Modi shared how the organist serenaded the wedding party with Bollywood melodies, including some

of the couple’s favorite songs. The presence of volunteer students, eager to be a part of their wedding, added an unexpected but heartwarming touch to the festivities.

Modi said that with the couple’s sentimental ties to Cornell, no other wedding venues compared.

“Looking at different venues, nothing [else] felt really personal to us. We wanted something unique,” Modi said. We had such a great time at Cornell that we thought ‘Why don’t we look to see if Cornell can actually hold our wedding?’ Which I’m really glad we did.”

Stella and Brad Stella Xu ’98 and Brad Phinney ’99 met in 1997. Xu had just taken her LSAT and to celebrate she met up with a friend to go to a house party, where she met Phinney.

Their decision to have a campus wedding came from a special connection they felt with the campus. Additionally, with both families hailing from different parts of New York, Cornell served as the perfect middle ground — a place where loved ones could come together to celebrate their

union.

“It’s a beautiful campus and had special significance because we met there,” Xu said. “The third reason [we chose to get married at Cornell] is that all my family was in New York City and his family was all upstate so it just so happened that Cornell was kind of a great middle point for both the families to travel.”

The couple hosted their rehearsal dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the Commons. Xu remarked that the celebrations were made more special by her ability to incorporate some of her Chinese heritage into the wedding due to the diversity of Ithaca.

“Even though [Ithaca is] a small town, it’s still a college town [that is] very diverse, so I was able to have my rehearsal dinner at a Chinese restaurant,” Xu said. “I was able to incorporate some parts of my culture and I was really happy to have that choice. It was nice to have that small town feel but at the same time just have us not be an oddity.”

Anushka Shorewala can be reached at ashorewala@cornellsun.com.

Pollack Maintains She Independently Decided to Resign

POLLACK

Continued from page 1

The administration has condemned the disruptive nature of demonstrations, labeled some of the organization’s language as antisemitic and arrested and suspended demonstrators.

Pollack acknowledged the “enormous pain” felt by community members due to world turmoil and local tensions, including for Jewish and Israeli students and Arab, Palestinian and Muslim students. She acknowledged that the next Cornell administration will have to continue to address antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry, while protecting free expression, but asserted that the next leaders will work from a “solid foundation.”

“We have been vigilant in working to ensure the safety and well-being of all members of our community from

all backgrounds, work I’ve been dedicated to long before the events of the past year,” Pollack wrote.

However, Muslim students have previously expressed to The Sun concerns about a lack of an administrative response to concerns about online threats and intimidation on campus. This includes how several derogatory messages toward Muslim students were posted on Greekrank on Oct. 29, in addition to antisemitic threats, but the University addressed only the antisemitic posts in an Oct. 29 press release.

The academic year has seen some university presidents, including Claudine Gay of Harvard University and Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, step down amid backlash for their response to antisemitism on campus.

In January, former trustee Jon Lindseth ’56 published an open letter urging Pollack and Kotlikoff’s resig-

nation, citing the University’s failure to appropriately address antisemitism on campus amid a “misguided commitment” to diversity, equity and inclusion. However, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted in support of Pollack’s leadership in response to the letter.

This approval for Pollack has sustained into the announcement of her retirement. As of Thursday morning, the Board of Trustees appointed Pollack as president emerita, an honorary title given to a retired leader, effective July 1, 2024.

“On a personal level, all my fellow trustees and I have enjoyed working with President Pollack and have valued her intelligence, integrity, candor and warmth,” Kayser wrote.

Pollack also emphasized her success with furthering her initial goals for her leadership — “enhancing Cornell’s academic distinction, our educational verve and the fulfillment

of our civic responsibility.”

Pollack oversaw the creation of the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, the establishment of COVID-19 pandemic policies and the allocation of increased financial aid, among many other accomplishments.

Pollack considered retiring over the past academic year but chose not to announce the decision earlier due to unforeseen circumstances, according to her email.

“Indeed, I began deliberating about this last fall, and made the decision over the December break; but three times, as I was ready to act on it, I had to pause because of events on our and/or on other campuses,” Pollack wrote.

Julia Senzon can be reached at jsenzon@cornellsun.com.

Anushka Shorewala can be reached at ashorewala@cornellsun.com.

Say yes | Couples choose to get married at Sage Chapel due to their sentimental ties to Cornell.

Exploring Te History of Jewish Inclusion, Resilience at Cornell

By ANUSHKA SHOREWALA

This story was originally published on November 26.

As Cornell’s Jewish community grapples with antisemitic threats and a tense campus culture following the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, The Sun explored the larger history of Jewish student inclusion and discrimination at Cornell.

When Cornell was originally founded in 1865, it was one of the only nonsectarian universities — and the first in the Ivy League. Due to their own experiences with religion, Ezra Cornell and A.D. White wanted to create an institution that was not dominated by a singular faith.

Although this initiative created opportunities for Jewish students, only a small proportion of Jewish students enrolled at Cornell in its early years. From 1878 to 1900, only about 30 out of 4,500 graduating students identified as Jewish or Hebrew, the original term for Jewish people. However, numerous students neglected to answer this form.

With a national rise in the country’s Jewish immigrant population and an overall increase in University enrollment across all religions, by 1920, nine percent of Cornellians identified as Jewish.

However, the rise in Jewish immigrants — specifically from Eastern European countries — in the U.S. also sparked concerns among higher education administrators and admission office leaders regarding the “Jewish problem.” Upon realizing the significant increase in the number of Jewish students in the student body, schools like Harvard and Columbia imposed quotas for the number of Jewish students who could be accepted.

While Cornell never imposed official quotas, the University implemented a new admissions process in 1925, where a committee would “careful inquiry … each case as to the character, personality and general promise of useful service and citizenship. The information so gathered is being carefully scrutinized and from such information a selection will be made of those individuals who, in the judgment of the committee, seem to offer the most promise of future worth.”

According to a Sun article published in 1929, the admissions committee at Cornell was known to look for the “right kind of man” for Cornell, which was “well known” as excluding Jewish

students. During this time, Jewish students were also disproportionately discriminated against by the Honor System, a process created to ensure that students maintain honesty during examinations.

Elissa Sampson, a visiting scholar in Cornell’s Jewish studies program, explained that many of the decisions that Ivy League institutions made in the early 20th century were to preserve their “elite recognition” through a student body that consisted of students from rich and powerful families.

“At the time we’re talking about, Ivy Leagues weren’t about merits but about the elite,” Sampson said. “[The Ivy Leagues] were interested in social clubs and the fraternal atmosphere.”

Sampson explained that, in addition to bias from the administration in terms of admission, Jewish students across the country faced discrimination from their peers.

In response to social exclusion, Jewish students started their own campus organizations. Sigma Delta Tau, originally known as Sigma Delta Phi, was established at Cornell by seven Jewish women in 1917 after they faced discrimination from other sororities. Additionally, many previously established Jewish fraternities and sororities such as Alpha Epsilon Phi and Alpha Epsilon Pi created chapters at Cornell.

Prof. Glenn Altschuler, American studies, explained that as the 1940s unfolded, the socio-cultural dynamics of Cornell continued to evolve, and more Jewish students enrolled in the University. Upon the end of World War II, there was a greater understanding of anti-semitism. Additionally, Altschuler explained that due to the implementation of the GI Bill, universities were pressed to increase Jewish student enrollment due to the large number of Jews who served in the U.S. Army during WWII.

While the number of Jewish students in the student body increased, Altschuler explained that Jewish students still faced discrimination from the administration and other students.

“As more Jews were coming to Cornell after World War II and into the 1950s, anti-semitism didn’t go away on the Cornell campus,” Altschuler said. “In our book [Cornell: A History, 1940–2015], Prof. Kramnick and I talk about a message that an admissions person in the College of Agriculture sent that indicated ways of keeping Jewish applicants down. And there is some information in our book about

Coulter Criticizes Immigration System

COULTER

Continued from page 1

Despite Kotlikoff’s insistence that the Cornell community values freedom of expression, all attendees — including Sun reporters — were told via multiple signs outside the venue that they would not be permitted to take any audio or video recordings of the event, even for journalistic purposes.

In addition to the strict recording rules, participants had to go through multiple security checks for identification and tickets by security personnel and event staff. Participants were also required to walk through a metal detector screening to enter the venue.

Throughout the event, six Cornell University Police Department officers spread out inside the event room and additional officers guarded the hallway. Private security stood next to Coulter throughout her talk.

Throughout her speech, Coulter expressed discontentment about the United States’ immigration policies.

antisemitism that some Jewish students reported in the 1950s.”

Altschuler highlighted the evolving inclusivity in higher education following the 1950s.

“[There was] an opening up of higher education to people across all social and economic situations, to people of all religions, to people of all faiths or no faiths — and that certainly has become the norm in higher education,” Altschuler said. “Jews were early beneficiaries of that.”

Antisemitic incidents, however, continued into the late 20th century. In 1980, antisemitic rhetoric was shouted outside the Young Israel living unit, now the Center for Jewish Living, and residents described facing personal harassment in preceding months.

Cornell’s approximately 3,000 undergraduate and 500 graduate Jewish students currently comprise 22 percent of the University’s population, according to Cornell Hillel. While Cornell has become an increasingly inclusive and welcoming campus to the Jewish community, Sampson believes that universities have to work at evolving from their origins.

Cornell, along with six other schools, is currently being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for potential antisemitism and Islamophobia propagated on campus.

In fall 2018, three swastika inscriptions were seen within and around North Campus residential buildings, less than a month after a gunman killed 11 individuals at a Pittsburgh synagogue. In spring 2019, a swastika was painted on Goldwin Smith Hall.

Last year, the Star of David was drawn next to a swastika on the ground near Beebe Lake and a banner that stated “Burn prisons, free them all, Attica to Palestine” was placed on the side of the Cornell Law School building that faces the Cornell Hillel offices. Just this past October, a Cornell student posted antisemitic threats on an anonymous messaging board, including one that threatened a mass shooting at the University’s kosher dining hall and encouraged students to follow Jewish students home with the purpose of causing harm.

“When you think about Cornell and its motto, you really get the sense that it is trying to be a secular institution, but its commitment to the secular is interesting and affects how it deals with new groups,” Sampson said. ”So Cornell has to evolve.”

“Immigration is the number one issue in the country [and] finally, people are paying attention,” Coulter said. “I’ve been giving speeches for a long time [and] I’ve never seen an issue where the public is so much on one side and the politicians so much on the other side.”

Coulter’s initial criticism of the immigration system centered around how she perceives America as starting to resemble other countries with its influx of immigrants.

“Never in human history has a country just decided to turn itself into another country like this,” Coulter said. “No offense to Mexico — love the food — but Japan doesn’t say, ‘Hey, let’s be Australia,’ or Australia say, ‘Let’s be Sweden.’ … We’re not doing them a favor by turning ourselves into the countries [immigrants] fled.”

Coulter particularly expressed her dissatisfaction with Afghan refugees immigrating to the U.S.

“Why does every sad sack in the world have to come to this country?” Coulter questioned. “What’s the trade-off with bringing millions of people from incredibly backward cultures who do not speak the language?”

Coulter also criticized the implications of family reunification preference tracks in immigration policies.

“Because of our family reunification policies, that blocks out other countries where we might be able to get the ones who are smarter, taller, more athletic,” Coulter said. “The pushcart operator from Pakistan who doesn’t speak his own language — nevermind ours — he gets precedence over a surgeon from Denmark.”

Sporting a shirt that read “Keep Migrants, Deport The Racists,” Prof. Monica Cornejo, communication, an undocumented immigrant, criticized the event during the questions portion.

“I’m an assistant professor of communication here, and one of those illegals that you mentioned,” Cornejo said. “I really appreciate you coming in and talking about these issues, that way I get to know how many racist people belong to this University.”

Coulter then interjected, cutting her off for not posing a question. When Cornejo responded by saying that she did have a question, Coulter retorted: “You got your chance. We’re moving on to the next question.” Cornejo continued to shout remarks throughout the questions portion, such as “Racist,” and put up middle fingers in response to many of Coulter’s comments.

Eventually, Coulter called for Cornejo’s removal, and she was arrested by members of the CUPD on the charge of disorderly conduct. Upon her removal, Coulter called her “a child.”

When asked about her thoughts regarding her arrest, Cornejo declined to comment.

In a post-event interview with The Sun, Kotlikoff expressed that while he disagreed with many of the claims made by Coulter, he still respects her right to freedom of speech.

“I don’t agree with Ann Coulter’s thesis about immigration, about the value of immigration to the U.S.,” Kotlikoff said. “There’s lots that I don’t agree with, but fundamentally I believe that it’s important for Cornell to be able to support diverse views — that’s what a University does.”

When asked if the University would allow a white nationalist or neo-Nazi to speak if invited to campus by members of the Cornell community, Kotlikoff reiterated the importance of respecting free speech on campus.

“I would support their right to speak at Cornell — I think free speech is that important,” Kotlikoff explained. “I think there are clear areas of speech that are not supported by the First Amendment [such as] incitement of violence. … Those we would shut down.”

Dina Shlufman, Matthew Kiviat and Benjamin Leynse can be reached at dshlufman@cornellsun.com, mkiviat@cornellsun.com and bleynse@cornellsun.com.

Sun Assistant News Editor

Star of David | Students shape candles into the Star of David at an Israel vigil.

ANTHONY CORRALES / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Civil Rights movement takes center stage domestically while internationally several pivotal events unfold. Soviet Premier Ni kita Khrushchev tours the United States,

1 959

On May 17, the landmark decision in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case is handed down by the Supreme Court, banning racial segregation in public schools. 1954 was also a pivotal year for France, a nation that hosted the Paris agreements of Oct. 23 that granted West Ger many sovereignty. In Viet nam, French outposts are am bushed and on Oct. 31 the FrenchAlgerian war be gins.

The Sun reports over the AP wire that NATO is established on April 4, and under Truman, the U.S. recognizes the state of Israel. 1 954

ment of the Republic of Ireland as a separate entity from Britain; the official founding of the Republic of China; and South Africa institutionalizes apartheid.

1 949 1949 saw the establish -

al year in that the G.I. Bill of rights is passed, and the Battle of the Bulge and D-Day change the course of history.

war. With no one left to staff the paper as needed and a greatly diminished readership, the paper would not resume publication until 1946, after the war had ended and Cornell students again flooded the quadrangles of the Hill. 1944 proves to be a pivot -

Just weeks later, as the war escalated to a near-boiling point, The Sun suspended publication as Cornellians headed off to

idly than they can possibly be replenished.”

us being depleted more rap -

At the end of 1943, a Sun editorial proclaims that “Three-fifths of Cor nell’s undergraduates are garbed in Navy blue or Army khaki, with ever-diminishing ranks of the sport-jacketed nucle -

1 944

ecause The Sun has been produced by students since it was founded over 140 years ago, the paper offers a unique history of Cornell University, a history that tells the story of the University from the perspective of the students. With that in mind, the current editors of The Sun have compiled some of the most intriguing events that took place on campus and around the world while you were students here on the Hill.

Civil rights workers Michael “Mikey” Schwer ner ’61, Andrew Good man, and James Cheney are murdered in Missis sippi. The three had been working to register black voters in the south, were arrested on a speeding ticket and were released by local authorities into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. Their bodies are found after President Johnson sends military personnel to assist in the search for the missing men. 1 969 On January 20, Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated 37th President of the United States. Social and racial tensions escalate here on the Hill and elsewhere. On April 20 (during Parent’s Weekend), African-American students seize Willard Straight Hall in opposition to what they call racist university policies. The Sun editorializes that while it is in sympathy with many of the specific demands of the students, it did not condone the threatening actions taken by those who took over the Straight. Ultimately, the stand ends peacefully though further controversy surrounding the resolution of the situation ensues. Some students protest the administration’s lack of strong disciplinary action against the African-Americans who took the Straight. On June 28 of the same year, a raid on a gay establishment in Greenwich Village — the Stonewall Inn — turns into a riot, sparking the Gay Rights movement in the United States. 1 974 On Feb. 5, Patricia Hearst, 19-year-old daugh -

1 964

B1 9 9 4 South Africa holds first interracial national election, resulting in Nelson Mandela being elected Pres ident.

1 989 Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini declares author Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses offensive and issues a fatwa calling for the author’s death. Thousands of Chinese students take over Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to rally for democracy on April 19. Over one million in Beijing demonstrate for democracy. On June 4, Chinese leaders kill thousands of demonstrators, many of them students.

In October, Indira Ghandi, the prime minister of India, is assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards. On Nov. 7, President Reagan is re-elected in a landslide over Democrat Walter Mondale.

1 984 In May, the USSR withdraws from the Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles, marking an intensification of Cold War tensions.

On March 28, the disastrous nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island, Pa., releases radiation, fueling the anti-nuclear movement in the United States. On May 3, British conservatives win, electing Margaret Thatcher as their prime minister. In the Mid East, revolutionary forces under Muslim leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, take power in Iran. By November, militant forces will have seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding hostages and demanding that American forces leave the city.

1 9 7 9

meeting with President Eisen hower at Camp David; the Dali Lama of Tibet es capes communist China and flees to India; and both Alaska and Hawaii become states. On Feb.16, Fidel Castro assumes power in Cuba.

ter of publisher Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. On July 30, the House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment charging President Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee. On Aug. 8, Nixon announces that he will resign. He is the first American president to do so. The next day, Gerald R. Ford of Michigan is sworn in as 38th President and one month later, on Sept. 8, Ford grants Nixon a full pardon.

Eric Har ris, 18, and Dylan Kle bold, 17, storm Col umbine High School in Little ton, Colo., killing twelve other students and a teacher before com mitting suicide.

1 999 War breaks out in Kosovo after Yugoslavian president Slobodan Mi los evic begins a campaign to kill and deport ethnic Albanians. In April, stu - dents

On June 18, football star turned actor O. J. Simpson is arrested in killings of wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and friend, Ronald Goldman, setting up one of the most notoriously publicized murder trials in U.S. history.

2 01 9 In a vote that also incorporated the opinion of 582 students with two community votes, the Student Assembly voted against a resolution to “urge” Cornell to divest from companies “profiting from the occupation of Palestine and human rights violations.” For the first time in recent memory, the vote was done by secret ballot, after students expressed concerns for the safety of themselves and their families should their votes be public. The North Campus expansion intends to build two new housing sites on the fields north of Appel Commons, to provide housing to 2,000 students. Centerfold Graphics: John Schroeder ’74

2004 NASA’s Spirit Rover — led by Prof. Steve Squyres Ph.D. ’78, astronomy — lands on Mars in January. In the spring, Former President Bill Clin ton appears as convocation speaker. That summer, a landlord is arrested and charged with four counts of un lawful surveillance in the second de gree for hidden vi deo surveillance of at least four female Cornell students in their University Avenue bathroom. In the fall, Cornell re searchers stun the ornithology world with video of the ivory-billed woodpecker, thought ex tinct for 60 years. 2009 In the midst of global financial crisis, Cornell cuts its budget to quell its financial losses. Adminis trators enforce a 5 percent across-the-board budget cut across all colleges, while the president’s and provost’s offices receive a 10 percent cut. Facing a $200 million budget deficit, the University also halts most construction projects, cuts staff and courses and closes two libraries.

2 01 4 Cornell President David Skorton announces he will leave Cornell to become secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Skorton’s term included pivotal moments for Cornell, including navigating the financial crisis, winning the New York City tech campus competition, and raising money to build the campus’ first new humanities building in a century. The Board of Trustees unanimously selects University of Southern California Provost Elizabeth Garrett to be the 13th and first female president of Cornell. Garrett’s roles at USC involved overseeing the school’s College of Letters, Arts and Sciences as well as 17 other graduate and professional schools. The University announces plans to more than double the size of Gannett Health Services by 2017, with construction of the addition to the original building to begin in 2015. Cornell says it will work to retain free TCAT bus passes for first-year students after weeks of protests against a previous proposal to eliminate them.

Middle E ast C aptures C ampus Attention

Israel-Hamas War Divides Campus

A Cornell professor’s speech at a pro-Palestinian off-campus rally on Oct. 15 sparked a nationwide debate over whether he should continue to hold a position at the University. But his remarks revealed a deeper divide within the Cornell community over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

After calling Hamas’s initial invasion into Israel “exhilarating” and “energizing,” Prof. Russell Rickford, history, first defended his remarks to The Sun, stating that he was referring to “those first few hours, when they broke through the apartheid wall, that it seemed to be a symbol of resistance, and indeed a new phase of resistance in the Palestinian struggle.”

He issued an apology in The Sun over his choice of words two days later.

Following Rickford’s remarks, President Martha Pollack and the Chairman of the Cornell University Board of Trustees said Rickford’s words were “a reprehensible comment that demonstrates no regard whatsoever for humanity.” Rickford subsequently requested and was granted a leave of absence from the University.

Student organizations distributed online petitions both supporting Rickford and asking the University to

hold the professor accountable for his remarks.

A truck with digital billboards displaying a picture of Rickford was seen driving throughout Cornell’s campus on Oct. 19. The truck displayed the words “President Pollack: Fire Antisemitic Professor Rickford Now.”

While the truck circulated campus for a second day, pro-Palestinian protesters followed the truck in defense of Rickford.

Students gathered in support of Rickford in front of the Statler Hotel on Saturday, Oct. 21, where events for the Cornell Board of Trustees were being held throughout the weekend. The group held two large banners that read “Anti-Zionism ≠ Antisemitism” and “Stand With Russell, Stand With Gaza.” The group chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Many speakers at the rally expressed frustration over Rickford’s leave of absence and urged attendees to email the Administration in support of Rickford. Other students, however, said Rickford’s words created “a hostile environment for learning” and that Rickford was wrong to call Hamas “rife with contradictions” instead of labeling Hamas “for what it is” as a terrorist organization.

Antisemtic Treats Target Students

Threats were posted to Cornell’s Greekrank forums on Saturday, Oct. 28 and Sunday, Oct. 29, including one that threatened a shooting at 104West!, which is home to Cornell’s Center for Jewish Living and the kosher dining hall.

Posts also threatened to rape female Jewish students and behead Jewish babies in front of their parents.

The posts came four days after graffiti stating “Israel is fascist,” “Zionism = genocide” and “F*** Israel” was sprayed across Central Campus on Wednesday, Oct. 25.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul came to campus on Oct. 30 to address the campus community directly.

“We will not tolerate threats or antisemitism or any kind of hatred that makes people feel vulnerable and exposes people and makes them feel insecure in a place where they should be enjoying their campus life, without fear that someone could cause them harm,” Hochul said.

Patrick Dai ’24, an engineering student, was arrested on Oct. 31 on charges of posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications, following an acceler-

ated FBI investigation. The charge filed against Dai carries a maximum term of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release of up to three years.

Appearing before a judge on Wednesday in federal court in Syracuse on Nov. 1, Dai originally waived his right to an immediate detention hearing, but backpedaled that decision under new representation.

At a hearing on Nov. 9, Dai’s public defender argued that he was not a risk to the community and that he has an undiagnosed developmental disability that was exacerbated at Cornell into severe mental health issues.

Federal prosecutors stated that his antisemitic threats posed a severe risk to the community and that his release could lead to further terror and dangerous actions. They also stated that his suicidal ideations pose a risk of flight, in addition to his connection to a foreign country as his father currently resides in China.

The judge ordered Dai’s detention on the grounds that his threats were vile and terrorized the Jewish community, and that his online threats were consistent with those of other mass shooters in recent U.S. history.

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Independent Since 1880

142nd Masthead

GABRIEL LEVIN ’26

Editor in Chief

MAX FATTAL ’25

Associate Editor

HENRY SCHECHTER ’26

Opinion Editor

MARIAN CABALLO ’26

Multimedia Editor

NINA DAVIS ’26

Photography Editor

ERIC HAN ’26

Arts & Culture Editor

SYDNEY LEVINTON ’27

Arts & Culture Editor

JADE DUBUCHE ’27

Social Media Editor

DANIELA ROJAS ’25

Lifestyle Editor

ISABELLE JUNG ’26

Graphics Editor

JOLIN LI ’27

Layout Editor

PARIS CHAKRAVARTY ’27

Layout Editor

CYNTHIA TSENG ’27

Assistant Photography Editor

LUCY CAO ’26

Assistant Photography Editor

ALLISON HECHT ’26

Newsletter Editor

JULIA SENZON ’26

Managing Editor

ERIC REILLY ’25

Assistant Managing Editor

MARISA CEFOLA ’26

News Editor

MATTHEW KIVIAT ’27

News Editor

CHRISTINA MacCORKLE ’26

News Editor

KATE SANDERS ’27

News Editor

JANE McNALLY ’26

Sports Editor

GABRIEL MUÑOZ ’26

City Editor

KAITLIN CHUNG ’26

Science Editor

LAINE HAVENS ’25

Science Editor

ANUSHKA SHOREWALA ’26

Assistant News Editor

DINA SHLUFMAN ’27

Assistant News Editor

HAMNA WASEEM ’27

Assistant Sports Editor

NICOLE COLLINS ’25

Weather Editor

Carl P. Leubsdorf | Alumni Viewpoint

I Really Owe It All to The Sun

It was the first time I’d seen Cornell. Without the benefit of a campus visit, I had applied, been accepted, chose a double dorm room and selected my courses. But I had barely considered the possibility of actually going there until Harvard and Swarthmore inexplicably decided in August 1955 to keep me on their waiting lists.

So, when I first drove up the hill on a pleasant September day to my freshman home in a concrete barracks-like structure known then as University Hall 3, I had no idea what to expect. The only Cornellians I knew were a half-dozen fellow freshmen from my high school and an old camp friend from Louisville, Ky.

As it turned out, I had lucked out, though it took much of my first year to realize it. Going to Cornell was one of the most fortuitous developments of my life.

Academically, becoming a government major was an easy choice, once I saw the scope of courses and had my first contact with one of its stars, the late Prof. Clinton Rossiter. I was already a political junkie.

But the decision that really shaped my future came when I decided the following Spring to try out for The Sun. A few years earlier, I had written for and become editor of my weekly camp newspaper. I also wrote sporadically for my high school paper. But I never thought of becoming a journalist until I started writing for The Sun and quickly realized this was a lot more interesting than my initial goal of becoming a tax lawyer. (Why a tax lawyer? Arithmetic was always my best subject in school, and English one of my worst.)

I loved the enthusiasm of my compet managers, as they were called then: the late Marsha Roberts Senz and David Engel, the latter to become editor-in-chief and a lifelong friend. And I especially loved the nights spent in the rickety old Sun office, upstairs at 109 East State Street, editing copy, writing headlines and schmoozing over dinner with my colleagues at one of our two regular spots, the Normandie across the street and the College Spa down the block.

I also liked getting to know Cornell’s vast and beautiful campus, covering stories and seeing my byline in the next morning’s paper (though my initial assignment was a deadly dull speech by a visiting economics professor). I was shy then, believe it or not, and having to deal with unknown people and situations helped me overcome it.

I soon discovered that The Sun also enabled me to pursue my interest in politics by writing occasional columns.

My role model was James Reston, the famed Washington columnist for The New York Times, who combined deft political analysis with an ability to convey the tone of life in Washington, a skill I envy to this day.

It’s easy to see now how these factors, academic and journalistic, combined to form my goal of becoming a political columnist. I soon became a regular night editor, putting out the next morning’s paper; and later, a member of the Editorial Board; a regular proofreader (nights spent among the characters on the Ithaca Journal’s night crew), and finally, in my senior year, Associate Editor in charge of the editorial page.

David, managing editor Bob Malina and I had barely settled in when the campus exploded, climaxing two years of student unrest over the administration’s misguided effort to tighten strict social rules after a particularly out-of-control party weekend. The Sun led the resistance in what, looking back, was a precursor of the broader students’ rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s. But what triggered the explosion that attracted national headlines was Prof. Theresa Humphreyville’s attempt to justify banning women students from “apartment parties,” meaning unchaperoned access to off-campus apartments. The “apartment situation is conducive to petting and intercourse,” she told the Student Council. A relatively peaceful daytime rally morphed into a less peaceful nighttime one, climaxed by a post-midnight march on President Deane W. Malott’s Cayuga Heights house. “Cornell students riot for sex,” one headline read. Some of our colleagues were displeased when we editorialized that the demonstrations “did more harm than good.”

Senior year was more peaceful, as a vice president for student affairs, John Summerskill, eased the restrictive effort. Soon, it was time to graduate. “It all seemed so hectic,” David Engel mused one night, “and now it’s over.” But for me, what started at Cornell is still not over, 65 years later. I couldn’t have planned it better. My first job, with The Associated Press, brought me to Washington; my second one, with The Baltimore Sun, enabled me to become a White House correspondent; and my third, 29 years as Washington Bureau chief of The Dallas Morning News, brought the column I had long sought, which I am still writing 43 years later.

And I really owe it all to Cornell— and to The Cornell Daily Sun.

Carl P. Leubsdorf ’59 was Associate Editor of The Sun in 1958-59. He is currently a columnist for The Dallas Morning News.

Happy Reunion Weekend!

The Sun has been the most impactful experience of my life as an undergraduate. As Sun alumni gather for yet another Reunion Weekend, I’m overjoyed to welcome back all of our muckrakers who have embodied journalistic excellence and helped move forward our 143-year-old tradition to where it is today. I’m also grateful to all the Cornell alumni, Sunnies or not, who continue to read and keep up with campus events, and who email and call me to give friendly feedback and share memories.

Reunions are a special time for reflection. This year, we are especially focused on celebrating the legacy Sunnies have helped create. The Sun, we know, has always been more than just a newspaper; it is a community organization, a training ground for budding journalists, a crucial forum for free expression and an unwavering voice for accountability and change on our campus. Sun alumni, your hard work, dedication and belief in the power of the Fourth Estate have set the standard for young people like me who now follow in your footsteps.

This past year truly has been a testament to the enduring spirit of The Sun. Faced with an incompetent and censorious administration in a historic year of campus tumult, our current team continues to uphold the high standards set by our alumni. Through the generosity of The Cornell Daily Sun Alumni Association, we have been able to build on our legacy, fully embracing the digital age by expanding our multimedia presence and social media footprint. We’ve also redoubled our commitment to investigative journalism, exposing corruption and misconduct to make our campus safer and more equitable for all.

And we couldn’t continue to do the important work we do today without you.

Sara-Ellen Amster | Alumni Viewpoint

‘Hocus-Pocus’:

The

Sun and

The Magic of Student Journalism

One night on the Ithaca Commons, our old Compugraphic computers crashed at The Sun’s temporary headquarters.

I took matters into my own hands, fanning a thin computer disc around and muttering an incantation, a version of “hocus-pocus dominocus.” I handed it to a nervous reporter Keith Eisner on deadline, and he popped it back into the whirring machine hopefully.

As luck would have it, the story magically appeared — all of it! Maybe the waving motion dislodged a little dust?

I have applied the spirit of The Cornell Daily Sun to every professional job I have ever held since my graduation in June 1989.

That is how essential The Sun has been to both my pursuit of journalism and to my sense of purpose in the world. More specifically, I have always viewed the world through the lens of the student journalist who is both an outsider and an insider at once, and I encouraged both my sons to follow my same path.

In sum, The Sun became a framework for viewing the need for fact- and truthbased journalism, and I have always felt student journalism is the purest variety of the craft. I believe young people from elementary school on should be taught the rules of the Fourth Estate because it would make everyone more conscious of what is happening around them and less apt to follow the herd.

If you knew me in my undergraduate years, you would understand I am not exaggerating. Fellow Sunnie Dan Gross said I had a pseudo-religious sensibility about the importance of journalism, and it is because it is true to Socrates’ credo: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

The Sun has played a critical part in every job I have ever held — all related to journalism — since the age of 14. After reporting jobs at daily metro newspapers for over a decade, I went on to build and launch international media and journalism degree programs at National University that attracted

Today’s Campus Protests Stir Old Memories for This Sunnie

When I read this spring about the protests at Cornell over Israel’s war in Gaza, I was reminded of a protest I covered in April 1978, when I was a junior and the newly elected editor-in-chief of The Sun. I still have the bound volume of issues from that semester. Re-reading The Sun’s coverage of the protests and my editorials about them got me upset all over again. Campus protests aren’t light theater. There is pain, anger and confusion.

the trustee Executive Committee, tried to leave, “they were pushed back by protesters and a short shoving match ensued between Rhodes, Stewart, safety officers, and the students,” The Sun reported the next day. Toward the end of the blockade, as things were beginning to calm down, Turner accused Rhodes of pushing him. “’I’m not pushing you,’ Rhodes hotly replied,” according to The Sun’s account.

top-flight journalists and academics. They included many digital journalists, all of whom get the importance of making one’s finished story work as well as it can for the viewer or reader.

I have always taught all of my students to insert a little magic in making every broadcast or final product come together as seamlessly as possible. There is no limit to what young journalists can accomplish with a pinch of “hocus-pocus dominocus.”

My students now include distinguished journalists in print, radio and TV, as well as tenured journalism professors and even a first public affairs officer for NATO.

So, I believe I have taken The Cornell Daily Sun with me everywhere I have gone and expanded the cause of the free press with its dogged pursuit of truth throughout my career thus far. The Sun is incredibly meaningful and the work that generations of Sunnies have accomplished has echoes far beyond campus.

For me, The Sun was the true value of the Ivy League education. Studenthood took a backseat to the far more compelling pursuit of spreading journalism far and wide. I never considered The Sun to be an extracurricular activity but always as the main thing itself or the critical kernel of inquiry and intellectual activity. The Sun’s impact on the media landscape has confirmed this fact as its adherents continually scatter around the world to build and expand public service journalism for everyone.

As a parent, I always made sure to emphasize the importance of curiosity to my children. Real magic isn’t make-believe; it’s journalism and rigorous fact-checking to uncover the truth that changes people’s lives and perception of the world around them. I’m proud to say that my youngest, Gabriel, is now carrying the torch, serving as editor-in-chief of The Sun.

Sara-Ellen Amster ’89 was managing editor from 1988-89. She went on to write for dailies across the country for a decade before becoming a professor of journalism.

The trigger for the protests was an interview that Stuart Berman, the managing editor, and I did with Robert W. Purcell ’32, then outgoing as chairman of the Board of Trustees. Purcell, who was a financial adviser to the Rockefeller family, said he was thinking of redirecting the income from a $1 million gift he had given to Cornell so all of it would go to minority scholarships and none to the Africana Studies and Research Center, which he thought could or should be disbanded. Purcell told us, “The real solution to … the black situation … is a greater degree of integration of the black community into the white man’s world.”

Stuart and I realized this was explosive material. Stuart wrote up the interview for the edition of Friday, March 31, and ran it at the top of the front page, above the masthead, to signal its importance. Day Hall realized it was explosive, too. By the Monday edition, Cornell’s provost, David Knapp, was telling The Sun that the University would replace any funding for the Africana Studies and Research Center that Purcell stopped providing.

A week later, on April 10, James Turner, the founding director of the Africana Studies and Research Center, spoke in front of the Straight and condemned what he called Purcell’s “careless, reckless, unfounded statements.”

The next day, about 40 students gathered at Ujamaa, a residential college celebrating Black heritage. They marched to Day Hall and then to the Johnson Art Museum, where Rhodes and key trustees were meeting to discuss the university’s investment policies. By that time there were about 200 protesters. They had multiple objectives, including to defend the Africana Studies and Research Center, to get Cornell to divest from South Africa and to protect COSEP, which was designed to increase African-American enrollment at Cornell.

At the museum, things started getting crazy. Seemingly spontaneously, the students forcibly detained Rhodes and the trustees inside. After a while, some of their leaders urged them to lift the blockade, but the rank-and-file felt otherwise.

The blockade ended up lasting 90 minutes. When Rhodes and Charles Stewart, the chairman of

“Demonstrators Detain Trustees” was the banner headline. At the bottom of the page we ran a photo of Rhodes and Turner. Rhodes, a bit disheveled, appears to be trying unsuccessfully to force a smile and is starting to reach for a handshake. Turner, impassive, has his hands on his hips, not yet extending his own hand. Behind Turner and to his right in the photo stand I, with a troubled look on my face. I was hard to crop out of the photo, I guess. I wasn’t good at conflict. I was a reformer, not a fighter. My discomfort with what had gone down showed through in the editorials I wrote for the next three issues of The Sun. “We call on everyone involved to take time out to think and cool off,” I wrote in the first. The next day I parceled out blame: the protesters for the blockade, the trustees for initially blowing off the protesters, and Rhodes, who I said “did much to lose his reputation as an unflappable Britisher who handles crises well.” The day after that I defended the Africana Studies and Research Center and reiterated The Sun’s support for divestment from apartheid South Africa, but ended by saying that the museum blockade “created an atmosphere of ill will” that could put the protesters’ goals “further from reach.”

Looking back on those anguished editorials 46 years later, I see that I took the easy way out by calling the museum blockade counterproductive. The more interesting question is what if it was productive, in the sense of achieving the protesters’ goals. Would I have supported it then? I think I’d still say no because I still almost instinctively oppose the use of force for political purposes, even though I think the protesters were on the right side of history. How far protesters should go to achieve what they think is right has been a recurring question at Cornell, from the Straight takeover of 1969 (and before) down to this past semester. I still think universities should be held to a high moral standard, but I also still think that the right thing to do is not always clear and unambiguous. Bertrand Russell once said, “I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.” I think he was right about that. Although I might be wrong.

Peter Coy ’79 was editor-in-chief of The Sun in 197879. He is currently a writer for the Opinion section of The New York Times.

26 Years Later, Pumpkin Returns to Clocktower

By HENRY FERNANDEZ and JONATHAN MONG Sun Staff Writer and Sun Senior Writer

This story was originally published on October 25.

For 26 years, Cornellians have wondered who placed a pumpkin on the spire of McGraw Tower, in one of the most infamous pranks in Cornell’s storied history.

But on Oct. 20, Cornellians looked up at McGraw Tower in awe to see a new pumpkin on the top of the tower. The Sun spoke to two men who claimed to place the pumpkin on top of the tower on the condition of anonymity. However, The Sun could not verify their claims.

“I wanted to see if [the original pumpkin prank] was possible, and if it was, I wanted to take one of my friends to go carve it,” one of the students said. “I had the pumpkin with me, so I tried [climbing the tower] with the pumpkin and verified it was possible.”

Unlike the infamous 1997 prank, this year’s pranksters possibly gained access to the spire atop the tower by climbing the scaffolding constructed by Safespan, which aids construction workers as they renovate the clocktower.

This potentially made scaling the clocktower considerably easier compared to the initial 1997 incident, in which the pranksters — who are still unknown — free-climbed the clocktower with no kind of scaffolding in place.

“I think it was a cop-out,” said Amber Prasad ’26, in regards to this year’s pumpkin prank. “There was scaffolding.”

The 1997 prank involved a still-unknown culprit sticking a pumpkin on the spire of McGraw Tower on Oct. 8, 1997, where it remained for 158 days. Prof. Don Michael Randel, music, who served as the provost of the University at the time, planned to remove the pumpkin with the aid of a crane bucket. However, before he could be lifted, the empty crane bucket slammed into the tower due to high winds, knocking the pumpkin over on March 13, 1998.

Reflecting on how the original pumpkin impacted campus, Randel wrote in an email to The Sun, “In a period in which college students were most often being publicized for misbehavior, here was an occasion when Cornell students were having fun displaying their imagination and sense of humor.”

The prank received national recognition, with visiting lecturer and expert in Cornell history Corey Ryan Earle ’07 calling it a “viral sensation.”

“The 1997 clocktower pumpkin was a viral sensation before social media existed. It was on the evening news; it had ongoing coverage in the New York Times for months,” Earle wrote in a statement to The Sun. “The fact that it still remains in the popular zeitgeist over 25 years later speaks to how much it captured the Cornell community’s attention and curiosity. The mystery behind it is half the fun, and I think that’s part of the reason that it has had such a lasting legacy.”

Cornell has leaned into the pumpkin’s vitality as well. Cornell has incorporated the pumpkin into Cornell Store merchandise including clothing, mugs, tote bags, statuettes and even The Dairy Bar’s Clocktower Pumpkins ice cream flavor.

According to Earle, the pumpkin is also referenced throughout Cornell academically.

“The University Archives does maintain a collection of clocktower pumpkin miscellany with memorabilia and materials related to the incident, and the remains of the pumpkin itself were added to the Wilder Brain Collection,” Earle wrote.

This is not the first instance of an item being placed onto the spire of McGraw Tower following the 1997 prank, with a disco ball being hung onto the tower in 2005 and a Santa hat being capping the spire in 2019. However, Earle states that the copycat pranks did not imprint themselves onto Cornell’s collective conscience as the original pumpkin did in 1997.

“[N]either of those [pranks] had the staying power or media attention of the original pumpkin,” Earle wrote. “The ubiquity of technologies like drones over the last decade have made the feat somewhat less impressive.”

One of the supposed culprits of this year’s prank claimed to have climbed the tower two times, once on the afternoon of Oct. 20 after construction workers had left and once again with a group late Saturday night, with the goal of carving something into the pumpkin. They then stayed on the clocktower into the early morning on Sunday, Oct. 22. Photo and video evidence shows the two men did successfully scale the tower Saturday night, but The Sun could not verify that they were responsible for placing the pumpkin onto the spire.

Both students refused to say what was carved into the pumpkin, and they crossed out the message in images sent to The Sun.

When asked how he initially climbed the clocktower, the student claimed it was easy to climb up.

“[It’s] pretty easy to be honest,” the student said. “Basically you just hop the fence and then from there, they have netting along the edge where the stairs are and the doors to the stairs have a padlock, so you can’t get in through that door. You had to go onto — I don’t even know how to describe it, but it’s above Uris Library and then get onto the scaffolding, and then from there you can go up the stairs most of the way towards the top, and then you have to climb up the outside of the scaffolding to get to the very top levels.”

The other student concurred, but he added that switching to the scaffolding from the stairs was difficult.

“Right when you get to the base of the clock, it gets a little sketchy because there’s no more stairs or anything, you just have to like go straight up the scaffolding,” he said. “You have to climb on it.”

Several students were alerted to the pumpkin being on the clocktower via a post on the popular social media app Sidechat between approximately 8 p.m. to 8:30 pm on Friday, Oct. 20. The post was deleted hours later.

The post was captioned “Happy October ;)” and included a photo of the pumpkin punctured onto the spire. Because the post showed the first close-up photo of the pumpkin on the spire, students theorized that this post was from the culprit.

“I thought that whoever posted that was either the person who did it or someone from the construction crew,” said Tamer Gabal ’27.

However, the student who claimed to climb the tower on Friday night said that he did not make the post.

“I actually have an Android, so I can’t use Sidechat,” he said. “I didn’t see any of the Sidechat posts until [the other student] showed me.”

Sidechat is only available for iOS systems, and The Sun verified the student who claims to have placed the pumpkin on top of McGraw Tower uses an Android cell phone.

The student said he did not take any photos during his initial trip up the tower on Oct. 20.

However, the students took several photos and videos with their faces showing at the top of the clocktower Saturday night, including one in which they attempted to carve the pumpkin.

“This will get us kicked off campus so quick dude,” one of the men said in a video sent by the purported pranksters to The Sun.

When asked why he decided to put the pumpkin onto the tower, the student said, “I originally wanted to do it because I wanted to A, see if it was possible, and B, if it was, I wanted to take one of my friends to go carve it.”

In an email to The Sun, Randel wrote, “It is not surprising that someone would think of [placing the pumpkin at the top right now], since the scaffolding in place now almost invites it.”

No one knows the exact time this year’s pumpkin was put up, according to Safespan worker Michael Black.

“We left here at about [4 p.m.] on Friday… just shortly after I guess,” Black said.

Fellow Safespan worker Jody Beaumont also estimated the time of the pumpkin-related shenanigans to be between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m on Oct. 20. However, the Cornell University Police Department’s crime log contains a report regarding a pumpkin being placed atop the clock tower at 3:42 p.m. that day.

Unlike 1997, this year’s pumpkin did not stand the test of time, as workers removed it early Monday morning.

“We were working down here — they took it off this morning,” Beaumont said.

Employees and members of the Cornell community have their own guesses to who put up the pumpkin, ranging from fraternity brothers on a dare to rock climbing aficionados.

“I would think it’d be part of the frat houses, who could get up there the fastest,” Black said. “It makes sense, it’s kinda funny. I think it’s hysterical.”

Maya Leigh Cruz ’27 had a different hypothesis.

“Maybe someone who works at the rock-climbing gym?” Cruz said. “No fear of heights, they can climb really fast, up and down.”

While it cannot be said for sure who placed the pumpkin on the clocktower like in 1997, the Cornell community has a Halloween mystery towering above them.

“I wanted to stay anonymous because I feel like that’s the tradition,” the purported culprit said. “Cornell tradition as well as potential legal [action]. I care more so about preserving the traditions.”

Henry Fernandez can be reached at hfernandez@cornellsun. com.

Jonathan Mong can be reached at jmong@cornellsun.com.

Inside Collegetown Bagels Connection to Cornell

By

This story was originally published on November 29.

Just outside Cornell’s bustling campus lies a place where the aroma of freshly baked bagels mingles with the fervor of student life. Collegetown Bagels — also known as CTB among students — stands as not only an eatery but also an icon and community space entrenched in the fabric of both Cornell and Ithaca’s culture.

A revered hub, CTB has shaped the essence of student experiences since its founding in 1976. Corey Ryan Earle ’07, who teaches American Studies 2001: The First American University — a class on Cornell’s history — encapsulated the sentiment that binds generations of Cornellians to CTB in an email to The Sun.

“CTB is a shared experience for Cornellians,” Earle said. “At a large, decentralized university like Cornell, there aren’t many things that nearly everyone has experienced. But CTB comes close, so it plays a role in creating a sense of community.”

Since its inception, CTB has woven a narrative that intertwines with Cornell’s essence, evolving from a humble establishment into an integral part of the university’s tapestry. Its journey, steeped in history, mirrors the evolution of Cornell itself. From its early days to becoming an iconic fixture, CTB has etched itself into the collective memory of Cornellians.

Nearly 50 Years on College Avenue: A History of CTB

Collegetown Bagels opened in 1976, founded by “couple guys from Long Island,” and has been on College Avenue for its entire existence. Current owner Gregar Brous — then at Ithaca College — joined the team in 1978, and purchased the business in 1981, eventually bringing his daughter Lindsey Brous ’12 into the fold as well.

“I liked the business – I had gotten familiar with it. And it got under my skin. So I decided I should go and open up a place somewhat similar in a different city, similar kind of market. I liked the market,” Brous said in an interview with The Sun. “And the guy that owned the place said to me, ‘Why don’t you just buy this place?’ It was right at home, I was familiar with the location, with the business, and ended up bringing my family into it when we bought it — and here we are today.”

Despite admitting he had no vision for the company when he bought it, Brous then purchased the Ithaca Bakery in 1989 — the two brands share the same menu offerings and production process — and moved CTB’s flagship location in Collegetown to its former home at 415 College Ave. in 1995. Between the two brands, Brous has seven locations across Ithaca.

“What we did was move all of our production into [the Ithaca Bakery location on 400 North Meadow St.]. So it gave us a commissary — a base of operations that we could feed our other units from,” Brous said. “And [the Ithaca Bakery] was an iconic name and business that had been around since 1910, so we had to kind of navigate how to maintain both brands. We kept both names — we felt like they both stood on their own and should be partners and established on their own.”

But Student Agencies — a student-run real estate company and the owner of 415 College Ave. — announced it would demolish the building in which CTB was located after an attempt to have it designated as a landmark failed in 2019, ultimately replacing it with the Student Agencies apartment building and an Ithaca Beer Company location.

CTB was thus forced to move to its current location across the street at 420 College Ave. in 2020. Before the move, Ithacans came together to support CTB, leaving messages on the windows before the building’s demolition in June 2020.

“We were very thankful for the support,” Brous said. “We were disappointed with the city that they didn’t see [415 College Ave.] as something that should be maintained, because the building had great history and was a key element to the feel of Collegetown.”

As part of the move — and due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which happened at the same time — CTB operated a food truck on College Avenue.

Brous said that the bakery location — where all the baked goods are made — operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week for bagel production, even though the storefront only operates during relatively standard business hours. Bagels are then boiled at each location following their delivery every morning.

Cornell and CTB

Earle, reflecting on CTB’s broader significance, noted CTB’s presence in Ithaca beyond the iconic Collegetown location, echoing its connection to both the University and the Ithaca community.

“CTB is more than just its Collegetown location, and the Ithaca Bakery locations are popular beyond the Cornell community,” Earle said. “I think the business is an important part of the Ithaca restaurant scene.”

Earle said CTB is such an integral part of the Ithaca community that it has become a meeting spot for alumni returning to campus and for Cornellians who have guests in Ithaca.

“Because it’s such a signature stop for visiting alumni, I find myself there whenever a friend is in town,” Earle said. “And I have many fond memories of sangria with friends on the CTB patio in Collegetown on a warm evening, both as a student and an alumnus.”

CTB’s ubiquity among Cornellians spans generations, as the store continues to welcome alumni and current students and foster connections beyond bagels and coffee, creating a vibrant social tapestry that defines the CTB experience.

The heartbeat of Collegetown Bagels echoes not only with the buzz of students but with the diverse perspectives and contributions of its employees, many of whom are Cornell students.

Pascale Zissu ’25, a former CTB employee, credited CTB’s employees with contributing to the connection between CTB and University student life.

“I feel like the employees shape most of the CTB culture. They are all so cool, friendly, and down-to-earth,” Pascale Zissu said.

Pascale Zissu also reminisced about the intersection of her roles as an employee and a student.

“It was always funny to see my classmates and sometimes even my TAs or professors while I was behind the counter,” Pascale Zissu said. “I remember one time one of the hockey boys came in, which was cool because I’m a big fan of the team.”

The shop’s legacy also extends beyond casual encounters, intertwining with Cornell’s traditions and culture. Earle even said some of CTB’s menu offerings were given their names by his former students, which allows him to reconnect with them every time he orders one. Earle also echoed a sentiment among many other Cornellians, saying the emotions CTB fosters transcend time and distance as alumni carry its essence as a cherished memento of their Cornell days.

“For alumni, CTB is all about nostalgia — the smell, the sandwiches, the memories,” Earle said. “I know people who ship CTB bagels across the country because CTB was a special part of their Cornell experience.”

CTB’s integration into Cornell’s traditions and events is a testament to its profound place in the

University’s spirit, Earle said, even as featured menu items at events like reunions.

“The Class of 2013 worked with CTB to create a special

reunion sandwich for their 10th reunion in June [2023],” Earle said. “That’s a great example of how important CTB is to alumni, even a decade after they graduated.”

CTB and a Changing Collegetown

“CTB is part of the Cornell experience for so many generations of alumni,” Earle said. “There’s a lot of turnover in Collegetown businesses, and I think it’s important for Cornellians to have places like CTB that offer consistency and familiarity, even years after graduation.”

CTB — along with longtime Eddy Street grill Souvlaki House — is a rare oasis of stability in a Collegetown restaurant scene that has seen significant change since the 1970s. Even CTB itself has changed locations three times in its 47 years. Yet CTB has changed as well, Brous said, growing and adapting with the changing tastes of its customers.

“In 1981, I baked the bagels, I brought them up front and people sold them. It was a pretty simple operation,” Brous said. “And as we’ve expanded location by location or grown different parts of our business, we’ve had to build the strength of our internal management and our staff, to focus on our product line and how they’re connected to the community. So it’s much more diverse, much bigger — our managerial staff is really crucial to our success.”

Brous has also adapted to each new location, with the move to 415 College Ave. allowing CTB to acquire a liquor license.

“It was a lot bigger – we had an on-premise liquor license, so we were able to serve beer and wine, and people can drink it both in the store and on the patio,” Brous said. “And it gave us a lot more seating. So we were able to expand the menu and expand our hours and expand our product line dramatically.”

However, not all alumni are receptive to the changes CTB has made to move with the times. Nicole Zissu ’93 — Pascale Zissu’s mother — said its expansions have made the menu overwhelming and the environment muddled in a statement to The Sun.

“I feel like it lost what it was in the expansion,” Nicole Zissu said. “It is overwhelming to try to read the menu and make choices, and know which register to go to now. I prefer a bagel place that is a bagel place and a bar or restaurant which is separate.”

Nicole Zissu went on, saying its presence in Collegetown is reminiscent of a monopoly.

“I think the monopoly-esque role it currently has is puzzling,” Nicole Zissu said. “I wonder what happened to Collegetown in general. There were so many dining options and bars back then — Collegetown feels abandoned and strange to me.”

But the future trajectory of CTB is intricately linked with the vibrancy of Collegetown itself, according to Earle.

“Having a vibrant Collegetown is critical, and CTB has made that corner a social hotspot, regardless of which side of the street it’s on,” Earle said.

Despite the changes Collegetown has experienced in recent years, much of what the Cornell and Ithaca communities have appreciated about Collegetown Bagels since its founding remains unaltered, with Brous saying CTB’s biggest inspiration is the city itself.

“What keeps [CTB] going is the interaction with the staff, the interaction with the guests and the interaction with the community and a whole city that really is a valuable piece of our existence,” Brous said. “It’s the most rewarding thing we get out of business.”

OLIVIA LaBONTE and JONATHAN MONG Sun Contributor and Sun Senior Photographer

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

At its current location under the dormitory Sheldon Court, CTB continues to serve Cornellians coffee and bagels daily.

MICHAEL WENYE LI / SUN FILE PHOTO

Farewell messages written on CTB's wall prior to its relocation across College Avenue in 2020.

MICHAEL SUGUITAN / SUN FILE PHOTO

The remains of CTB in June 2020 as Student Agencies decided to replace the building with apartments and Ithaca Beer Company.

KATIE SIMS / SUN FILE PHOTO

CTB sits at its prior location, at the present-day Student Agencies apartment building, in 2017, where it was located for 25 years.

Olivia LaBonte can be reached at oml@cornell.edu. Jonathan Mong can be reached at jmong@cornellsun.com.

Men’s Lacrosse Clinches Outright Ivy Title in Season Finale Te 32nd program

By JANE McNALLY Sun Sports Editor

This story was originally published on April 28.

Taking the field one final time in the regular season, men’s lacrosse clinched the regular season Ivy League title in a 15-10 victory over Dartmouth. The win marked the Red’s third consecutive regular-season crown and 32nd in program history.

“To win the last two [titles] outright specifically, … it’s exciting for us,” said head coach Connor Buczek ’15.

And though it was the last time Cornell would take the turf for the regular season, it is far from the last time the Red will play in 2024 — imminently, Cornell will host the Ivy League tournament next weekend, May 3-5. And, regardless of those results, the No. 9 Red are on track for an NCAA Tournament bid.

“It’s exciting to have that type of success,” Buczek said. “[But] the standard’s high here. The expectation is that we are competing and winning those titles and we are at the top of the league year in and year out.”

Saturday’s win over Dartmouth (3-10, 0-6 Ivy) —

the only Ivy team winless in its conference — featured a fourgoal, seven-point performance from senior attackman CJ Kirst and a hattrick by junior attackman Danny Caddigan.

On the other side of the ball, junior goalkeeper Wyatt Knust fended off any ounce of a Dartmouth attack, making 18 saves on the day for a stellar 72 percent save percentage. Freshman goalkeeper Matthew Tully slotted in for the final 3:05 of the contest and allowed three goals.

“I think [the defensive group has] done an incredible job coming together. … [Knust] has really matured through that whole process and the ups and downs of the year,” Buczek said. “I think we are finally hitting the point [where] that group is playing very unified and together.”

A mere few hours before the opening faceoff, Yale — which had been in contention to host the postseason tournament along with Cornell — lost to Princeton, 15-8. The result sealed home turf advantage for the Red and essentially rendered the result of the Dartmouth game moot.

“I think I’d be lying to say [that] we didn’t know it had happened,” Buczek said. “The nice part was we knew we were going to be home. The reality was, we had an opportunity to win [the regular season title] outright.”

Nevertheless, the Red (9-4, 5-1 Ivy) came out shooting like there was no tomorrow. 17 seconds into the game, Freshman

midfielder Luke Gilmartin collected a rebound and buried it on a dive for a quick 1-0 Cornell lead. Sophomore long stick midfielder/defenseman Brendan Staub notched another score a few minutes later, a goal that awarded senior defenseman Jack Follows his first career point.

Two Dartmouth goals sandwiched a tally from freshman attackman/midfielder AJ Nikolic, before a 3-0 run to end the quarter ensued for the Red — freshman attackman Ryan Goldstein, fifth-year midfielder Aiden Blake and Kirst all found the nylon to give Cornell a 6-2 lead after a quarter of play.

“It’s exciting to have that type of success. But the standard’s high here. The expectation is that we are competing and winning those titles and we are at the top of the league year in and year out.”

Nearly five minutes of the second quarter passed before a team got on the board, and that was Dartmouth at 10:07. The Big Green added two more in the second frame, but four goals by Cornell — two each from Kirst and Caddigan — cushioned the

Red to a 10-5 lead at half.

The second half was much more evenly contested, as both teams tallied five goals apiece before the final horn sounded. Dartmouth’s attack progressed but was largely stifled by Cornell’s defense, a group that has taken strides over the course of the season to fill the voids left by Gavin Adler ’23 and Chayse Ierlan ’23.

“We’re making the changeups in our lineup that have been necessary to get us to a point that we are competitive in every game,” Buczek said. “We’ve lost some big pieces and guys that have missed some significant minutes, and the nice part is it’s not a story from you guys — that ‘next man up’ mentality has proved strong within our group.”

While Cornell has been known for its third-quarter offensive prowess, the defensive side of the ball shone through on Saturday. Senior midfielder Hugh Kelleher notched two goals while 10 saves by Knust kept the Big Green off the scoreboard.

Individual performances and stats were bolstered in the final quarter, as Caddigan and Goldstein capped off their multi-point afternoons while fifth-year attackman Spencer Wirtheim added a goal of his own. Dartmouth tallied five goals in the final frame, but it wouldn’t be enough as Cornell emerged victorious.

Jane McNally can be reached at jmcnally@ cornellsun.com.

Head coach Connor Buczek ’15

Title seized | Cornell finished the regular season 9-4 and will host the Ivy League Tournament at Schoellkopf Field this weekend in Ithaca for the first time since 2013.

Men’s Hockey

After

14 Years,

Whitelaw Cup Returns to the

Hill Men’s hockey defeated St. Lawrence, 3-1, in the ECAC championship on Saturday

By JANE McNALLY Sun Sports Editor

This story was originally published on March 23.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. –– As the final buzzer sounded at Herb Brooks Arena, Cornell fans erupted.

The Red skated toward its goaltender, players tossing their gloves in the air.

Head coach Mike Schafer ’86 embraced his coaching staff.

“[It’s] outstanding to finally win a championship again — it’s been a long time,” Schafer said. “The belief within the locker never, ever wavered once throughout the course of the year.”

It had been a long time coming for Schafer and company. 14 years after its last title in 2010, men’s hockey defeated St. Lawrence, 3-1, in the ECAC championship game on Saturday. The win marks Cornell’s 13th Whitelaw Cup in program history, the most of any ECAC team.

Cornell had a scare after St. Lawrence pressed hard and cut a 2-0 lead to 2-1, but a late empty-net goal by junior forward Jack O’Leary iced the game for the Red. Freshman forward Jonathan Castagna notched two goals for Cornell, including the game-winner.

Cornell now awaits its next task –– the NCAA tournament.

“We’ve got to catch our breath. It’s a little bit of a sprint here and [we’ll] find out who we play, but we’ll be ready. It’ll take a little bit, but it’ll be fun,” Schafer said.

Rejuvenated after a successful early first-period penalty kill, Cornell got to work. A strong drive up the ice led to a pair of shots in rapid succession, and the trailer –– Castagna –– cleaned up the rebound with a backhand over the shoulder of St. Lawrence’s Ben Kraws.

When asked about both of his goals in the game, Castagna had few words to describe how he felt on the biggest of stages: “I would like to [say how

it felt], but honestly, it was kind of a blur. It was a big game. … That first goal wasn’t the prettiest in the world, but it got in the back of the net.”

The goal broke a shutout stretch of 73:37 for the Saints, dating back to the third period of its second quarterfinal win against Colgate. St. Lawrence has received stellar goaltending from Kraws down the stretch, as the graduate student has maintained a save percentage of over .900 percent since Feb. 23.

But the goaltending on the other side was equally formidable. Junior goaltender Ian Shane stopped 31 pucks, including 14 in the second period, to cement the victory.

“[I don’t know] how he doesn’t get to be one of top three goaltenders in the country for the Mike Richer [Award]. I just don’t think that people have enough respect for him,” Schafer said. “And I don’t think he really cares, and he keeps plugging away. He’s been there for us all year. He was there again tonight and made big saves.”

Late in the first, Castagna nearly doubled the score singlehandedly when he poked the puck past a St. Lawrence defender and fired a shot all alone in the slot, but Kraws swallowed up the attempt and the rebound to prevent his team’s deficit from growing.

Though the second period began with a bout of St. Lawrence possession, Cornell was able to prevail and create rush chances the other way.

It wasn’t long before Castagna got the second goal he was looking for.

5:13 into the second period, Castagna cleaned up a loose puck around the net

and tucked it past Kraws to make it 2-0. Castagna celebrated as his teammates engulfed him in a hug after his second tally.

“[Castagna] and all the other freshmen –– all nine of them –– in the game tonight did a tremendous job,” Schafer said.

“Before the game, you think: ‘this is the last time we’ll have the ability to fight for this title with the same group of guys. It was incredibly special. What we’ve created is really special.”

Jonathan Castagna ’27

From there, Cornell’s stifling defensive unit –– which has been marquee to its style of play this season –– took the lead. Aided by Shane, Cornell was perfect on the penalty kill on Saturday, including a kill of a potentially momentum-altering penalty not long after Castagna’s second goal.

Not only did Cornell restrain a St. Lawrence power play that looked lethal in its semifinal game against Quinnipiac, the Red dismantled it –– the Saints struggled to get much going around the perimeter, and any shot taken from distance was easily gobbled up by Shane.

The Cornell netminder stood tall on Saturday, as he has all season long. Shane instilled a calm presence in the backend for the Red as the Saints began to threaten.

Cornell got an early power play chance to start off the third period, looking to score the potentially suffocating goal. There was no shortage of chances on Cornell’s second man-advantage, as the Red fired five shots on goal on the power play, but all were deterred by Kraws.

St. Lawrence took the penalty kill as ammunition for its next attack –– as time expired, the Saints took the puck the other way and created a quick odd-

man rush. St. Lawrence’s 13th forward, Cameron Buhl, opted to shoot the puck instead of pass it across, beating Shane cleanly to halve the Cornell lead.

“[Kraws] made two saves -– I thought we put the game away to make it 3-0,” Schafer said with admiration for the Saints’ netminder. “And then they come right back down and score, and then everybody’s anxious.”

The third period was a nail-biter, as the Red looked to maintain its 2-1 lead. St. Lawrence found its footing in the final frame, creating a few elongated shifts in its offensive zone and tiring out the Cornell skaters.

Shane –– cool, calm and collected ––was the difference down the stretch, particularly when St. Lawrence pulled Kraws. Making big saves until the final buzzer, the junior netminder kept the Saints at bay.

O’Leary’s empty netter with under a minute left sealed the game for Cornell.

“It was a huge sense of relief,” Shane said. “You could feel in that third period –– they weren’t gonna go away quietly.”

The win clinches both the Whitelaw Cup and an automatic bid to the national tournament for Cornell. The Red will travel to Springfield, M.A., to take on Maine on Thursday. Puck drop for the regional semifinal matchup is slated for 5:30 p.m.

In the meantime, though, the Red will venture back to Ithaca with the Whitelaw Cup.

“Everyone’s so excited. That was our goal, after 14 years –– just to feel that, all the pent up emotions. … It was just such a fun weekend,” Shane said.

“Before the game, you think: ‘this is the last time we’ll have the ability to fight for this title with the same group of guys,’” Castagna said. “It was incredibly special. What we’ve created is really special.”

Kings of the ECAC | Cornell clinched the conference championship after finishing the regular season as the No. 2 seed. With the win, the Red receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

ANTHONY CORRALES / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER