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Professor who said Hamas Oct 7 attack made him feel ‘exhilarated’ resumes teaching at Cornell

September 18, 2024 | | Print Article

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and others condemned Cornell University for welcoming back a professor who praised the Hamas attack on Israel last year as “energizing.”

Cornell Professor Russell Rickford took a “voluntary leave” last year after his shocking declaration that the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists made him feel “exhilarated.” Thousands signed a petition to remove Rickford last year and the university condemned his remarks.

But less than one year later, Rickford has returned to teach at least two courses — African Americans Vision of America and Socialism in America — as well as a seminar, according to the New York Post which reported that Cornell confirmed that the “university did not discipline Rickord for his hateful remarks.”

“Given that Professor Rickford’s comments were made as a private citizen in his free time, the university’s academic leadership has concluded that Professor Rickford’s conduct in relation to this incident did not meet that high bar,” Cornell VP of University Relations Joel Malina told the New York Post, reminding that the school condemned the remarks at the time as “reprehensible” for showing a “complete disregard for humanity.”

However, citing Rickford’s free speech rights, Cornell thought Rickford’s apology and voluntary leave of absence for the rest of the school year was enough.

“Consistent with well-established principles of academic freedom, Cornell has a process for considering whether public statements such as those expressed off campus by Professor Rickford at a political rally fall under the category of protected speech, or rather demonstrate prohibited bias, discrimination, or harassment,” Malina told the newspaper.

According to The Post:

Rickford didn’t merely express such shocking and hateful remarks last October, though. The Post also reported in April how Rickford was still on campus to cheer on the pro-Hamas protests.

In May, Cornell University President Martha E. Pollack announced that she was retiring. Not only did Rickford make his pro-Hamas remarks during Pollack’s tenure, but Patrick Dai, a student on the campus, was also arrested in late October “on a federal criminal complaint charging him with posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications.”

The professor’s return to teaching, and facing no discipline from the school, drew scathing criticism from both sides of the political aisle.

“Unsurprisingly, he was welcomed back,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) wrote on X. “This is the personification of elite educational rot and antisemitism at the core of so many anti-Israel campus protests.”

“I am deeply disgusted by Cornell’s decision to continue employing Mr. Rickford after his horrific statements that celebrated the murder of innocent people and incited violence,” U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney said in a letter to Cornell interim President Michael Kotlikoff.

“Regardless of one’s views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the loss of human life, especially the lives of women, children, and the elderly, including Holocaust survivors, should never be referred to as `energizing’ or `exhilarating,’ ” she said, according to The Post.

“Professor Rickford holds a position within the university that allows him to mold and influence young minds. This position demands a higher standard of behavior, one that is free from anti-Semitic rhetoric and vocal support of terrorism,” the letter continued. “By perpetuating these abhorrent views, Professor Rickford has not only violated his ethical responsibility as an educator but has also jeopardized the safety of the Jewish community and tarnished Cornell.”

News of the professor’s return prompted an outcry on social media as well, where X users like former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher simply urged, “Don’t go to Cornell.”

Frieda Powers
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