James O’Keefe has released a sting video of an Assistant Dean of Students at Cornell University indicating to a purported potential foreign student that the school was amenable to pro-ISIS and pro-Hamas student clubs, and even training of “Freedom Fighters.”
I don’t know the Assistant Dean and never heard of him before this, as he’s not at the law school and we tend to be somewhat isolated from the rest of the University.
I became aware of the video late last night when my wife saw it on The NY Post website (emphasis added):
This guy is either the dumbest Ivy League bigwig ever or politically correct to a fault — for welcoming offers to bring ISIS and Hamas to Cornell University.A video sting operation shows Cornell’s assistant dean for students, Joseph Scaffido, agreeing to everything suggested by an undercover muckraker posing as a Moroccan student.Scaffido casually endorses inviting an ISIS “freedom fighter’’ to conduct a “training camp” for students at the upstate Ithaca campus — bizarrely likening the activity to a sports camp.Is it OK to bring a humanitarian pro-“Islamic State Iraq and Syria” group on campus, the undercover for conservative activist James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas asks.Sure, Scaffido says in the recorded March 16 meeting.Scaffido doesn’t even blink an eye when the undercover asks about providing material support for terrorists — “care packages, whether it be food, water, electronics.”How about supporting Hamas?No problem at all, Scaffido said.
My first two impressions were:
I wasn’t going to write about it, but I’ve been bombarded with emails and comments from readers calling it to my attention because … CORNELL.
Here’s the video:
What do you think?
I asked both Cornell and James O’Keefe to comment on the possibility that the Assistant Dean was just misinformed or underinformed.
James expressed doubt:
“If you have an assistant Dean of Students at an Ivy league University that doesn’t know what Hamas is or the Islamic State is, perhaps you need to redefine the qualifications for University leadership.”
Here is Cornell’s response in the form of a “statement by Cornell University President David J. Skorton regarding the Project Veritas video”:
“As the president of Cornell University, I want to be clear that the notion that Cornell would allow ISIS training sessions on our campus is ludicrous and absolutely offensive.“Project Veritas, the organization behind this shoddy piece of ‘journalism’ has been repeatedly vilified for dishonest, deceitful activity. It is shameful that any individual would pose as a student facing racial discrimination at another university, ask leading questions on hidden camera about Cornell’s tolerance for differing viewpoints and backgrounds, and then conveniently splice together the resulting footage to smear our assistant dean and our University. After speaking with Assistant Dean Scaffido, I am convinced that he was not aware of what he was being asked.“Let me be clear: Cornell has an unwavering commitment to the free and responsible exchange of ideas. However, we remain vigilant in maintaining an appropriate balance of freedom of expression within accepted boundaries. Of course, incitement to violence is not protected and would never be tolerated on our campus.”
The NY Post asked: “the dumbest Ivy League bigwig ever or politically correct to a fault”?
What do you think?
Update: James has responded to the statement from Cornell’s President:
Dear President Skorton,If your assistant Dean of Students has never heard of Hamas or the “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,” Project Veritas should be the least of your concerns. We stand by our report about your university. There is more to come.James O’KeefePresident, Project Veritas
More to come! I don’t know what that more will be, but based on the past, O’Keefe successfully has used an initial video sting as something of a teaser, to draw out statements or conduct by a target for which there is much more video already taken. There often are several rounds of that. We shall see.
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