After Cornell Cracked Down on Pro-Palestinian Activism, its Graduate Student Union Fought Back

Earlier this year, college students across the U.S. made headlines by establishing protest encampments in support of Palestinian liberation, many of which were met with public disdain and police repression. Now, as the new school year begins, student protesters remain resolute in their struggle to maintain the right to speak out against Israel’s ethnic cleansing as university administrations try new strategies to silence ​“controversial” speech.

As Aaron Fernando recently reported in The Nation, ​“Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has taken disciplinary action against an international student that will likely force him to leave the country, and could have a chilling effect on other international students participating in political protests. Momodou Taal is a Ph.D. candidate in Africana studies and a graduate student worker, attending Cornell under the F-1 visa program. In the last academic year, Taal joined student-led actions demanding that Cornell divest from industries complicit in Israel’s attacks on civilians in Gaza.”

In response, Cornell Graduate Students United-UE, the university’s graduate student workers’ union, issued a statement demanding to bargain with Cornell ​“over the effects of discipline of graduate workers on their working conditions” in accordance with a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the administration in July.

On this episode of Working People, Maximilian Alvarez converses with Jawuanna McAllister and Jenna Marvin, two Cornell Ph.D. students and members of the CGSU-UE bargaining committee. They discuss Cornell’s actions against Taal, the intersection of labor rights and academic freedom, and the union’s next steps in fighting unjust discipline of grad student workers.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Jawuanna McAllister: Hi, My name is Jawuanna. I’m a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in molecular biology and genetics at Cornell. So, I do a lot of stuff with cancer cells, and I’m also a member of the CGSU-UE [Cornell Graduate Students United-UE] bargaining committee.

Jenna Marvin: Hi, my name is Jenna Marvin. I am a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of History of Art at Cornell University. I actually work on the history of American photography. And like Jawuanna, I’m also a member of CGSU-UE’s bargaining committee.

Maximillian Alvarez: All right, welcome everyone to another episode of Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams and struggles of the working class today. My name is Maximilian Alvarez, and we’ve got an urgent episode for y’all today. We are recording this on Tuesday, October 1, as we prepare to commemorate a year of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. As Israel, with the United States’ full backing, drags the Middle East into an all out war, the war here at home is ramping up on working people and people of conscience everywhere who are speaking out and taking action to try to stop the slaughter, or at least to pressure those in power to do so. Just as the student encampment movement last school year turned institutions of higher education into a flashpoint of struggle over Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, U.S. support for it, and the right to speak out against it, college and university campuses this year are at the bleeding edge of institutional efforts to silence and repress Gaza solidarity and anti-war demonstrators. And that is playing out right now as we speak at Cornell University.

And so, Jawuanna and Jenna from the Cornell Graduate Students Union are here to join us and help us unpack this important story. And thank you both so much for taking time to do this, I really appreciate it. I really wanted to turn things over to both of y’all and ask if you could take us back to last year, when the student Intifada movement was really spreading to campuses, not just across the U.S., but around the world. It felt like this was a really big step in the protest movement. And now we are facing a lot of the more sinister institutional backlash, beyond just the immediate police-led backlash that we saw on campuses like Columbia.

So can you both talk to us a little bit about how we got from there to here? And then we’ll talk about where things currently stand with Taal’s case and what the union is doing to fight it.

Jawuanna McAllister: Well first, thank you again for having us. You know, we’re really happy to be able to have a platform to share some of what’s going on at Cornell.

It’s actually interesting that you bring up some of the more overt forms of discipline and policing that were taking place across campuses. It’s actually one way that I think Cornell was different. We’re at Cornell’s main campus, which is in central New York, in Ithaca. It’s a college town. It’s pretty small, rural for the most part. So, a lot of what was taking place across the country, we didn’t really have here in terms of over-policing. Especially with the student encampment in the spring, there were some flare ups, but it never really got to the point where it was violent. Everything was entirely peaceful, at least from the side of the pro-Palestine protesters.

But what was always present, and I think now is sort of bubbling over and coming to the surface, is some of these more insidious forms of repression and discipline and targeting of specific individuals who are perceived as leaders in this type of movement, and the censorship that we’re really seeing that was taking place last semester.

And I think one of the other shifts with Cornell is that we had a change in leadership. So, our former provost is now the president of the university. Our former president retired. Take from that what you will. But now, we have a new president, [Laurence] Kotlikoff, who has taken the helm and is really spearheading a lot of these more repressive tactics that he was able to get away with without as much attention, I think, in the past.

Jenna Marvin: Yeah, I really do want to highlight that change in leadership at Cornell. There was, I think, a sense from all of us, either union members or activists, that Kotlikoff’s change of role from the provost to the president was going to lead to a real change in tact or maybe even an intensification of what had been happening in the spring. And I think that our fears are being validated right now.

Maximillian Alvarez: What we have seen, especially heading into the new year, is that university administrations and the powers to which they answer, be they on the donor side or the political side, have taken that time over the summer to really revamp their strategies for how to deal with these protests. And when I say ​“deal with,” you know, [those words are] carrying a lot of weight. Some universities, we’ve already seen, are taking action, even disciplining or firing faculty. And now we have the case here at Cornell.

So, I wanted to ask if you could please tell us how things have gone this year. Did it feel markedly different walking onto campus at the beginning of this school year? What has been the course of events that have led us to where we are right now, and where do things currently stand right now?

Jawuanna McAllister: I think there was a sense from everyone on campus who’s been paying attention to events on campus that this year was going to be a little bit different and a little bit more intense. I believe it was the very first day of classes, August 26, [that] the new interim provost and new interim president sent out an email to the entire student body — and I believe the entire Cornell community — outlining new guidelines for how discipline would be handled this semester for student activists. And it’s essentially this three-tier system where it’s kind of like three strikes and you’re out. So [after your] first offense, [you receive] a warning, you get called into a meeting with the student code of conduct office. An offense could be attending a protest, attending a rally that’s going on a little too long, per Cornell University Police’s discretion. A second offense [leads to] a non-academic suspension, which essentially bars people from participating in clubs and extracurriculars. And then the third would be temporary suspension and academic suspension, [which is] what’s happening to Momodou right now.

The other change is that, in response to some of the discipline that graduate workers in particular faced in the spring, where we had a number of [graduate students] of various marginalized identities targeted for their participation in our encampment at Cornell [and] suspended, graduate workers here organized a picket outside of a bargaining session, and that resulted in really demanding that the university bargain with us over over that discipline. And as a result of that, we got this Memorandum Of Agreement, which we signed with the university in July, and this agreement essentially states that the university is obligated to bargain with our union over the effects of grad work or discipline. 

So, you have this three-tier system that the university is saying they’re going to abide by. And, as I think Jenna can tell you more about, things are not playing out how they should.

Jenna Marvin: Yeah, I can talk a little bit more about the enforcement of the Memorandum Of Agreement. It does feel like Cornell Administration, like the head and the hand are not talking — on purpose, more than likely. Cornell’s bargaining committee is composed of general counsel faculty and, of course, an outside negotiator as well. And so, they are bargaining this Memorandum of Agreement with us, beginning in May, which was a huge industry-setting victory, to win something that actually says your employer has to come to the bargaining table around, really any kind of discipline that affects working conditions. So, from the time we started bargaining that until July, when we actually signed it, Cornell’s bargaining committee was working with CGSU-UE to hammer this out, and it’s become final, and it’s a document that we are really proud of. [It’s] not only a victory for us, but for other graduate shops around the country.

I think we were all sort of waiting on bated breath to see how the university would handle the enforcement of the Memorandum. And of course, the answer that we received is they are blatantly disregarding [their] obligation to bargain with us over any sort of discipline meted out that affects the terms and conditions of employment. And of course, [in] Momodou Taal’s case, that is absolutely happening. De-enrollment and the revoking of his visa alone constitutes a huge disruption to the terms and conditions of his work. So, to have your bargaining committee actually bargain with the union to create these really, really, really clear guidelines for how discipline is to be handed down and how the union is to be involved in that process, and then to completely disregard it — especially after sending out this three-strikes email where due process is supposed to be a guarantee — it does feel like the president’s office is not communicating properly with the offices that actually are in charge of meting out discipline. It’s been very disappointing, to say the least, from the union’s perspective.

Maximilian Alvarez: I can’t imagine how they’re feeling right now, but what can you tell us about how Momodou is doing and how this is affecting them? And for anyone out there listening who is still asking those questions like, ​“Why is this a labor issue? What do unions and grad workers have to do with Palestine?” What would you say to folks out there about why this is a labor issue and how this is affecting one of your members right now and their livelihood?

Jawuanna McAllister: It’s very much a labor issue. With the type of work that graduate workers do…We teach. We research. Momodou is a student in Africana Studies and a grad worker in Africana Studies. He can’t teach his classes right now because he’s been suspended. His students are missing out on all that he has to offer as an instructor, because he can’t set foot on campus. He can’t do his job. So, it’s very much a labor issue from a service level. And then you think about the types of things that graduate workers are being disciplined for, not only by participating in protest activity, but also just by teaching their subject matter in the classroom. I think Momodou and a number of other graduate workers who I personally am aware of and have close friendships with have reported some really troubling things about the response of the administration to the subject matter in their courses.

So, this is really an issue of academic freedom as well, where you have people not only not having the freedom to express themselves on campus in general, and [to] oppose what’s happening in Palestine and the atrocities that they’re seeing; they can’t even teach about it as it relates to their their courses. That’s really scary at an institution that prides itself on being an Ivy League institution. People pay a lot of money to come here [and] are really proud when they get in. It just runs completely contrary to any institution of higher education’s educational and academic mission to be doing this. So it’s an issue of academic freedom, it’s an issue of worker autonomy and workers rights, and because we are workers, it’s very much a labor issue.

Jenna Marvin: I’ve thought about this a lot in the last couple of days, and I don’t think there are many union members across industries in this country who would ever stand for the level of unilateral discipline from their employer that Cornell is meting out to Momodou Taal right now. It is a fundamental union issue that your boss cannot exercise unilateral power over you. You get a say in your working conditions. Being hired and fired is part of your working conditions. So, this is an absolutely fundamental fight that labor unions have been fighting for over 150 years in the United States. It is absolutely crucial to our fight, and a union needs to be able to protect its workers from that complete unilateral bring-down of power.

And absolutely, it is an academic freedom issue as well, to echo Jawuanna. I work in the humanities. Speaking of fundamentals, it’s fundamental to what we do in the humanities to teach about the horrors of history and to talk about what happens in the world today. And that includes politics in all of its forms, and it includes genocide. And so, to have students in the humanities thinking, ​“Maybe I shouldn’t teach this. I’m not really sure how that will be received by my students. I’m not sure who will find out about this.” I hear that from my coworkers, and that’s very scary. So, what is happening to Momodou Taal is absolutely a disgrace, but there are also many effects that trickle down from this. It’s about creating a culture of fear, and when your workers are fearful, that is a union issue, always.

Jawuanna McAllister: There’s one other thing that I wanted to add to this that we haven’t actually spoken to directly. A lot of people don’t understand what a grad worker union is, because we are grad students and we also do work that makes the university run. As Jenna has already highlighted really eloquently, we teach [and] we do research on behalf of the university, but we’re also here taking classes. So we have these dual roles. And when the university disciplines workers as ​“students” or under the guise of academics, that is inextricable from our employment and our role as workers.

So, in Momodou’s case, for example, when you are suspended as a student, you are also suspended and effectively fired from your employment. When you’re de-enrolled as a student, you’re terminated. And to Jenna’s point earlier, there’s no other industry where that would be acceptable, where lack of due process or lack of just cause for termination because of something that is independent of your employment is acceptable. And that’s also not a distinction that really exists in practice. We’re one in the same. So I think that’s an important point to clarify. We’re students and we’re also workers, and those things are inextricably linked.

Maximilian Alvarez: I just wanted to ask if y’all could speak as union members about the fact that Momodou being an international student is also a really important detail to the story, both in terms of what this discipline is going to mean for him personally, but also what him being an international student is allowing the university to do in perpetuating the chilling effect that y’all were talking about here. This is something that comes up all the time when grad students go on strike, because universities will almost always, like clockwork, when a strike happens, they will send out an email notifying international students that if they’re not working, they could lose their visas, and thus their immigration status. So could you please speak to that for a second, and then we’ll wrap up by asking what folks can do now to help?

Jawuanna McAllister: Yeah, it’s not a surprise to anyone that when the boss wants to intimidate and instill fear, they go after the most vulnerable workers first. And that is our international students, who make up approximately 50% of our membership, 50% of our bargaining unit. It’s an intimidation tactic, through and through. We see it for exactly what it is.

And I think what’s been really heartening is to see the outrage from our international workers, as well as the broader Cornell community. I think the response from the community on campus, and then also more broadly nationwide, is demonstrating to our workers here that people are not just going to sit by and accept this. Our union will not just sit by and let one of our own be disciplined and effectively have his visa status revoked and then effectively be deported. We’re not just going to sit by and allow that to happen.

Jenna Marvin: Yeah, I will add that one of the things that makes this situation around intimidation of international workers at Cornell incredibly divisive is that one of Cornell’s founding principles is ​“any person, any study.” It’s all over this campus. I see posters of it when I walk down the hall in my workspace. And so, to rest on the prestige of having 50% of our bargaining unit members be international workers who are some of the best, the brightest and the most generous colleagues ever, but to then turn that right around and make people feel scared and to make people vulnerable, and to for Cornell’s administration to feel like they have control over international workers is really, really disappointing, particularly given its founding ethos.

Maximilian Alvarez: Well, Jawuanna, Jenna, I want to thank you both again so much for taking time to chat with me. I really appreciate it, and I just wanted to give y’all the final word here and ask if you could let our listeners know what happens now and what the union is trying to do, what the campus community is doing to stand against this, and what folks out there who are listening can do to stay up to date on this, and what they can do to get involved themselves? 

Jenna Marvin: For those people who are not in Ithaca and want to stay up to date, we are keeping people up to date with our Instagram, that’s @cornell_gsu. We’re trying to be as on top of the developing situation as we can. More news to come as the bargaining committee that Joanna and I are part of goes to sit at the table again with Cornell’s representatives, given what has unfolded since our last session about two weeks ago.

Jawuanna McAllister: I have two more things to plug. We have an Action Network petition that UE national has just helped us launch earlier today. So if you are a member of a local — any local, it doesn’t have to be UE — please, please, please, check out our social media and the UE national socials. We also have different petitions for different groups depending on what your affiliation is. We have one that’s specific to grad locals, so please reach out to us. You can either DM us on Instagram or Twitter, or you can follow up with us at bc@​cornellgradunion.​org.

We need Cornell to bargain with us, period. We have this MOA. It’s time for Cornell to hold up their end of that signed agreement and bargain with us over not just Momodou’s suspension, but any grad worker discipline under these policies. Meet us at the table.