Zoe Bernstein is a senior at Cornell University and she makes some excellent points here.
She writes at Algemeiner:
Jewish Students at Cornell Are Hurting — But No One Seems to CareFrom a young age, I learned to stand up for what I believe in with great pride. But I was also taught that actions have consequences, and that I would be responsible for what I did.While I appreciate Cornell University’s strong commitment to freedom of expression, the administration must ask itself where the line is drawn between protected speech and unprotected speech; between what is permitted and what is not. While I cannot say with absolute certainty, my sneaking suspicion is that, if this type of rhetoric were directed at any other minority group, whether it be racial or ethnic, the response from the university would be astronomically different.Students come to Cornell expecting to be protected from threats and harassment, and the administration has a responsibility to maintain a learning environment in which every student can feel comfortable going to class without fear of intimidation, and express their ideas without being attacked.When we walk through a campus literally vandalized with spray painted profanity, and have our classes disrupted by loud chants for violence, many Jewish students feel as though Cornell is failing us in this regard.The Community Belonging section of the Cornell Student Code of Conduct states that “students, faculty, and staff with different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn, innovate, and work in an environment of respect…”Below that, it details that “to assemble and to protest peacefully and lawfully are essential to academic freedom and the continuing function of the University as an educational institution.”
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