Free Republic

Cornell University has invited Jew-bashing entertainer Kehlani to perform on campus May 7 — defending the move as just giving its students what they want. Kehlani has a music video that starts with, “Long live the Intifada” — an inflammatory phrase that critics say promotes violence against Israelis and Jews — shared a map online that eliminates the state of Israel and refused to condemn Hamas for the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. The invite to the multi-Grammy Award-nominated R&B artist comes after the Trump administration froze $1 billion in federal funding to the upstate Ivy League school amid a civil-rights...

The radical Cornell University prof who lauded the Hamas terror attack on Israel as “exhilarating” and “energizing” dodged any punishment and is now back teaching at the upstate Ivy League school. Shamed history Professor Russell Rickford was out for the past year on “voluntary leave” after widespread public outcry when he was recorded at an off-campus anti-Israel rally cheering Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, invasion that slaughtered 1,200 Israelis. ““It was exhilarating, it was energizing ….I was exhilarated,” Rickford said at the time — before apologizing for applauding the mass murder of innocent civilians. ... Rickford is now teaching at least...

The remarkable thing about Russell Rickford is that there is nothing extraordinary about him. The Cornell University prof gained notoriety in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7 by declaring that he found the terror attack “exhilarating.” Afterward, Rickford apologized for his “horrible choice of words.” After the controversy over his warm words for Oct. 7, Rickford took a “voluntary leave” and is now back in the classroom. What’s outrageous isn’t that he hasn’t been disciplined by the school, but that he fits in so seamlessly. If Rickford, a history professor, went somewhere else to ply his wares, he’d in all...

There have been recent reports of pet cats injured, or worse, in the Ithaca area, with animal predation one of the possible causes, and pet welfare experts suggest keeping cats indoors will help keep them safe, from foxes or coyotes or birds of prey, among other risks of harm. “It’s extremely difficult to tell” what harmed or killed a particular cat without witnessing an incident, says Dr. Bruce Kornreich, the director of the Cornell Feline Health Center and a cardiologist in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He’s skeptical of anecdotal reports that cats...

$4.2 million will go to develop supportive housing in Ithaca. Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that Steuben Churchpeople Against Poverty (dba Arbor Housing Development) will use the money to construct 20 permanent supportive housing units. The proposed Stately Apartments will feature laundry facilities, a community room, a garden, and commercial space. “Creating new permanent supportive housing is central to my administration’s work to reduce homelessness across New York State, while simultaneously supporting strong neighborhoods throughout our state,” Governor Hochul said. “When completed, these projects will provide vulnerable New Yorkers with an affordable place to call home and the security and...

ITHACA, N.Y. — A person is in custody in connection with a series of antisemitic online threats made against Cornell University’s Jewish community, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Tuesday. “Earlier today, law enforcement identified a person of interest as part of the investigation and this individual is currently in the custody of the New York State Police for questioning,” Hochul said in Tuesday’s statement, adding public safety was a “top priority” and that she was “committed to combatting hate and bias wherever it rears its ugly head.” The online messages surfaced Sunday and included threats to...

Cornell University was on high alert Sunday night after a series of “horrendous, antisemitic” messages threatening the school’s Jewish community were posted earlier on a public forum, school officials said Sunday night. The school notified law enforcement agencies and campus police were taking precautions after a series of disturbing online posts made threats directed at Jewish students and the Center for Jewish Living, according to the university’s president Martha Pollack. The FBI has been contacted of a potential hate crime at the upstate New York Ivy League school amid the Israel-Hamas war, Pollack said. One of the posts on the...

Cornell University’s bucolic upstate New York campus was defaced with hateful anti-Israel graffiti Wednesday morning as some messages read “F–k Israel” and “Zionism = Racism.” The vandalism at the Ithaca Ivy League school came several days after a professor who called Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel “exhilarating” and “energizing” took a leave of absence. The graffiti began on campus sidewalks sometime before 9 a.m.,

'I apologize for the horrible choice of words,' Cornell University Professor Russell Rickford wroteA Cornell University professor who said he was "exhilarated" and "energized" after the Hamas atrocities in Israel issued an apology on Wednesday for the remarks. "I apologize for the horrible choice of words that I used in a portion of a speech that was intended to stress grassroots African American, Jewish, and Palestinian traditions of resistance to oppression," Cornell University professor Russell Rickford said in a letter published in the Cornell Daily Sun. "I recognize that some of the language I used was reprehensible and did not...

A Cornell University professor was caught on camera telling students Hamas’ terror attack on Israel — which has left more than 1,400 dead — was “exhilarating” and “energizing.” The remarks were made at a pro-Palestine protest by Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history at the top-tier Ithaca, New York, school and posted online Sunday by a student who called them “shameful.” The footage of Rickford’s impassioned speech was also shared with The Post by two other tipsters. They declined to say when and where exactly the rally took place, but both said they were shocked by the brazen remarks....

ITHACA, N.Y. — On Wednesday, August 23 just after 1 p.m., Ithaca Police Officers responded to the parking lot of Aldi’s at 505 Third Street for multiple reports of a woman who was actively attacking cars with a meat cleaver. Initial reports indicated the woman was waving a meat cleaver in the air and acting disorderly in the parking lot where many customers were present. Witnesses say the person was using the meat cleaver in an attempt to break windows, slash tires, and cause damage to multiple vehicles parked in the area. When officers arrived on the scene, they quickly...

Ithaca, New York - Starbucks broke US law when it closed a unionized store in Ithaca, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) judge ruled on Thursday. Administrative law judge Arthur Amchan ruled that Starbucks closed its College Avenue café, located near the Cornell University campus, "in large part to discourage unionization efforts in Ithaca and elsewhere." The coffee chain announced it was shutting down the College Avenue store just two months after all three of its locations in Ithaca voted to unionize. This year, the company said it would close the other two stores as well. Amchan called for Starbucks...

The Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School of Ithaca, set amid a pastoral idyll of rolling fields, a pond, and dandelion-stippled meadows, is just a few minutes’ ride from Ithaca College and Cornell University. Serving more than 220 students from preschool through eighth grade, the school features classrooms bathed in natural light, populated with the offspring of professors, doctors, and lawyers. And since the fall of 2020 through today, those children must be masked during class and on the playground, and have been barred from speaking during lunch. Like every other school in the country, this private school—which charges between $11,000...

UPDATE: This piece has been updated to reflect statements from Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), Cornell Student Assembly president Valeria Valencia and Speech First.The Cornell University Student Assembly unanimously voted in March to approve a resolution that would require instructors to inform students about “traumatic content” being discussed in class.The university rejected this proposal because it violates academic freedom and freedom of inquiry, according to an email obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.“Faculty must also be free to provide trigger warnings if they so choose, but it must be a decision left up to the faculty member...

Tuesday, January 31st, Cinemapolis will begin offering “Masked Tuesdays.” The theater will start offering a day when all staff and moviegoers will wear masks. This is an effort to make moviegoing accessible for people who feel safest and most comfortable in a fully masked environment. On “Masked Tuesdays,” Cinemapolis will not offer typical concession sales. Candy and baked goods will be available for purchase to take home, but the theater will not sell concessions to eat during the movie in order to encourage consistent masking on these days. The theater uses a HEPA air filtration system to maximize safety at...

October Drag Story Hour has returned to Ithaca for the 2022 Fall season. Parents could bring their kids to Buffalo Street Books Sunday morning for a glamorous storytime experience. Miss Coraline Chardonnay and Miss Tilia Cordata have been doing Drag Story Hour for the last four years. Starting in the Fall of 2018, they read children's books to parents and kids throughout the Ithaca community and even held story time virtually during COVID. People were invited to come dressed in the costume of their choice. On Sunday, many did just that, kicking off the 2022 fall season's story hours. “We...

The bust was modeled from life just before Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865. It was created by American sculptor Vinnie Ream, the first woman to be granted a federal commission by the United States, according to the university’s website. It was purchased and donated to the campus by Ezra Cornell, founder of the university. Its scheduled return to public viewing comes amid concerns over its removal among some Cornell donors and alumni. The public was first alerted of its removal by an article in The College Fix in late June 2022. The Fix was told of the situation by Cornell...

An upstate New York county library in June hosted a series of four events in which eleven to eighteen-year-olds could “learn the art of drag from a local drag queen.” The Tompkins County Public Library, located in Ithaca, New York, hosted the four events on June 6, June 13, June 20, and June 27. “Participants will learn about costuming, makeup, lip synching, stage presence, and more,” the library boasted, urging, “Students will be best served by attending all classes in the series, as each week will address a different aspect of performing drag.” Then, to inculcate the youths further into...

A professor at Cornell University says the school’s library has removed a bronzed Gettysburg Address plaque and a bust of President Abraham Lincoln after somebody complained. “Someone complained, and it was gone,” Cornell professor Randy Wayne (said), referring to a Gettysburg Address plaque and Lincoln bust that had been on display in the Ivy League university’s Kroch Library since 2013. The professor said that he had noticed that the items were gone after stopping by the library several weeks ago, adding that when he asked the librarians about it, they were unable to give any details, other than saying it...

The summer travel season has not exactly gotten off to a great start. Demand is up due to people ready to travel after an almost two-year pandemic kept many travelers at home. There is a pilot shortage now, though, and it is causing cancelations and delays. American Airlines told FOX Business on Monday that it is ending service to three cities on September 7. Those cities are Islip and Ithaca, New York, and Toledo, Ohio.The pilot shortage has been building since the pandemic. Some pilots were put on furlough. Others decided to retire or go into other areas of employment....