Cornell University students staged a sit-in and economic blackout on Wednesday in response to the way the university handled an alleged 2024 sexual assault.
Protesting students occupied a university dining hall for seven hours and refused to spend money on campus.
“Jane Doe endured seven hours. On Wednesday, October 7, we’re asking Cornell students to sit with us for seven,” said a social media post from Cornell’s NAACP chapter announcing the sit-in.
Kennedy Young is co-president of Black Students United at Cornell, one of the organizations leading the sit-in.
“Jane Doe didn't have a community to sit with and discuss the issues that she dealt with or the incident that occurred to her,” Young said. “But here we are sitting with each other for seven hours in community.”
Young said protesting students held teach-ins, sharing knowledge about domestic violence and intersectionality and Cornell’s history of student protest.
“It's just been amazing to be able to look amongst other students and know that even if I know that I'm not being protected by this institution, I'm being protected by students and I'm being protected by a community that cares for me,” she said.
This is the second major protest on Cornell’s campus this week. On Monday, a wave of students marched across campus during a “Justice for Survivors” rally.
A coalition of campus groups leading the actions at Cornell released a list of demands for the university’s administration.
They include mandatory sexual assault prevention training for students, and trauma informed training for the university police. The students also want to see minimum sanctions for sexual assault, among other changes.
Jack Huber is with Students for a Democratic Cornell, one of the groups behind the protest.
“What we see when [Cornell’s] administration has sole control over discipline is they do not use it to seek justice,” Huber said. “Rather, they use it to sweep things under the rug that look bad for the university. We see this time and time again for survivors of sexual violence at Cornell, including Jane Doe.
Huber said Cornell mishandled the case. That isn’t a surprise for him.
“It is the product of a culture that the administration has enabled and it is far from the only time that Cornell's justice system has failed its students and even been weaponized against students,” Huber said.
He said that Cornell’s disciplinary process favors outcomes that look good for the university.
Huber and his organization want to see a return to an independent judicial system.
Cornell did not respond to WSKG’s request for comment.
