MULTIMEDIA | The Coalition for Mutual Liberation staged a 24-person occupation at Day Hall, Cornell’s primary administrative building, on Thursday. CML called for President Martha Pollack to call a vote of the Board of Trustees — which is meeting in Ithaca from March 21 to March 22 — to divest from arms suppliers and defense companies.
CML is continuing to push for divestment at a Ho Plaza rally on Friday that started at 12:30 p.m.
While Day Hall typically closes at 5:15 p.m, demonstrators were told at approximately 4 p.m. that a request from the trustees — some of whom visited the protestors throughout the occupation — to allow protestors to stay in the building without repercussions until 6 p.m. would be honored.
According to a statement released by Joel Malina, vice president for University relations, Cornell trustees Stephen Robinson and Martin Scheinman visited the demonstrators at Day Hall to listen to the protestors’ concerns. The trustees informed the group that while they would inform the other trustees about the group’s concerns, their demands could not be met.
Despite warnings from campus staff and the Cornell University Police Department emphasizing the building’s closure, demonstrators continued occupying Day Hall.
22 students were referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards for breaching the Student Code of Conduct and two employees were referred to Human Resources for violating University policy, Malina wrote.
The police charged demonstrators with trespassing, with a court order to appear before Ithaca City Court set for over spring break.
Article by Anushka Shorewala and Julia Senzon
Filmed by Julia Senzon, Anushka Shorewala, Kate Sanders
Edited by Marian Caballo
Produced by Marian Caballo, Julia Senzon