Prominent Cornell University professor calls on the board of trustees to take action after antisemitic incidents
William A. Jacobson wants the Cornell Board of Trustees to step in so that Jewish students can feel safe on campus.
A prominent Cornell University professor has called on the school’s board of trustees to take action after a series of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents have left Jewish students feeling uncomfortable and unsafe on campus.
William A. Jacobson, a clinical professor at Cornell Law School who joined the faculty in 2007, called on the Cornell Board of Trustees to pause new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism and form a special independent commission to investigate antisemitism on campus and the negative effects of DEI.
"There has been a long problem at Cornell that the administration has just shut its eyes to. The faculty is extremely anti-Israel, not necessarily the majority of them, but there is a core group of faculty who agitate continuously for the destruction of Israel," Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
William A. Jacobson, a clinical professor at Cornell Law School who joined the faculty in 2007, called on the Cornell Board of Trustees to help Jewish students.
"They claim it's a colonialist state, even though the Jews are the indigenous people of the land of Israel. They claim that you need to liberate Israel, but who are you going to liberate from the people who have the historical claim to it? But it's nonstop. It's all the time, and that has a very pernicious effect on campus," he continued.
"I've heard from a lot of students, and I've seen a lot of chatter that Jewish students in particular are extremely upset. They were extremely upset with the vituperative hostility towards Israel expressed by numerous student groups, expressed by faculty, and they don't feel welcome at Cornell. They feel there's a problem here. And I think the administration needs to get a handle on that."
On Sunday, it was revealed that Cornell University police are investigating a series of threats made against the school’s Jewish community. The threats were posted to a website not affiliated with the university and targeted "104 West," where the Center of Jewish Living is located on campus. One of the threats called for people to follow a Jewish person home and "slit their throats," adding, "Rats need to be eliminated from Cornell."
School President Martha E. Pollack blasted the threats as "horrendous," and said the police have notified the FBI of the threats, flagging them as a potential hate crime.
The threats came after Cornell associated professor of history Russell Rickford said he was "exhilarated" and "energized" by the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Rickford is now on a leave of absence.
A prominent Cornell University professor has called on the school’s board of trustees to take action after a series of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents have left Jewish students uncomfortable on campus. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Cornell Coalition Justice for Palestine has since posted a statement in support of Rickford that has piled up over 1,300 signatures from people affiliated with the university, including many faculty members and students.
"I've seen this coming for a long time. I've covered problems at many campuses with the anti-Israel movement for over a decade at my website Legal Insurrection, including problems at Cornell," Jacobson said. "There have been multiple instances of Students for Justice in Palestine at Cornell disrupting pro-Israel events."
Legal Insurrection features posts about anti-Israel episodes at Cornell, including a 2022 report on a panel discussion that included a professor who compared the Jewish state to Nazi Germany, a 2019 Students for Justice in Palestine call to renew a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) effort and pro-Israel students being taunted in 2014.
Jacobson, an outspoken critic of DEI agendas on college campuses who also founded CriticalRace.org, said he has not heard back from the Cornell Board of Trustees since his initial call for action earlier this month when Rickford made his comments.
Jacobson believes the school’s glaring issues with anti-Israel sentiment are "compounded by the campus’ obsession with race" because Jewish students are seen as the "White oppressors" when everything is viewed through an identity lens.
"It just creates a very toxic atmosphere that the administration has been oblivious to," Jacobson said.
"What I'm hearing from Jewish students is that they don't feel safe on campus, even before this latest incident," he continued. "I'm not pointing fingers at a specific person or group, but it is a fact that that fed off of a campus frenzy, which has been extremely hostile to supporters of Israel, which means it's extremely hostile to most Jewish students on campus."
Russell Rickford, a history professor at Cornell University, in on a leave of absence after saying he was "exhilarated" and "energized" by the Hamas terror attacks in Israel. (FOX News Digital | Getty)
Jacobson wants to see widespread changes to the culture at Cornell but feels the current senior administration at the school shouldn’t be relied upon.
"They helped contribute to the problem through this hyperfocus on race and the DEI initiatives which are quasi-religious at Cornell," he said, adding that he wants an independent commission to probe what caused such widespread antisemitism.
"I think they're sticking their heads in the sand. And now everything is, you know, in a frenzy on campus, and they have not dealt with it properly," Jacobson said. "I call upon the university again to take up my proposal… to take up my call to action for the board of trustees to get directly involved, to take this issue over and to address it, because we can't just continue on the way we've been going."
When reached for comment, Cornell University directed Fox News Digital to a lengthy statement on "antisemitic threats" to the community.
"Threats of violence are absolutely intolerable, and we will work to ensure that the person or people who posted them are punished to the full extent of the law. Our immediate focus is on keeping the community safe; we will continue to prioritize that. We will not tolerate antisemitism at Cornell," President Pollack wrote.
"During my time as president, I have repeatedly denounced bigotry and hatred, both on and off our campus. The virulence and destructiveness of antisemitism is real and deeply impacting our Jewish students, faculty and staff, as well as the entire Cornell community," Pollack continued. "This incident highlights the need to combat the forces that are dividing us and driving us toward hate. This cannot be what defines us at Cornell."
Cornell University declined to answer a series of questions, including whether the school will take any steps suggested by Jacobson.
The school said Cornell’s Student and Campus Life and the Dean of Students Office have been meeting regularly with individuals and student groups in the wake of threats against Jewish students.
Cornell University Police Department also issued a statement saying, "The safety and security of the entire Cornell community continues to be our top priority. We are taking threats very seriously and working with the FBI, State Police and other agencies to investigate — we continue to have an enhanced law enforcement presence on campus to keep our community safe. We have increased patrols and arranged additional security for our Jewish students and organizations on and off campus, and the university is in constant communication with these groups."
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Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.