Over 100 pro-Palestine protesters confronted Boeing — a company students voted to divest from in April 2024 — at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations’s Human Capital and Human Relations Career Fair Wednesday afternoon.
The Coalition for Mutual Liberation organized a walk-out for Palestine at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Day Hall.
Once protesters arrived, organizers announced they would march into the career fair held at The Statler Hotel, which featured representatives of Boeing and L3Harris, two of the manufacturing companies listed in the S.A. referendum as “supporting the ongoing war in Gaza.”
This disruption, according to a University statement, involved shoving police officers, making guests of the University feel threatened and denying students the opportunity to experience the career fair.
Sun reporters on the scene did not observe any physical violence towards law enforcement but did note distress among recruiters, students and administration involved in the career fair.
“This behavior is unacceptable, a violation of University policy and illegal,” the statement read.
Members of CML — a pro-Palestine coalition of over 40 on- and off-campus organizations — spoke in support of Palestinian resistance amid Israel’s military bombardment of Gaza and condemned Cornell’s investment in weapons manufacturers.
“We will work, we will fight. No more jobs in genocide” and “F*** you Boeing,” protesters chanted, as they gathered in front of Day Hall.
At around 2 p.m., protesters marched from Day Hall to The Statler Hotel, where the career fest took place. They banged drums, pots and pans and chanted “Free Palestine” as they entered the building and confronted the companies.
Protesters presented the Boeing recruitment table with a letter titled “People’s Court Indictment of War Crimes and Genocide,” as well as a list of the Gaza death count for children under the age of one.
The letter delivered to Boeing “charged” the company with “the crimes of aiding and abetting human rights violations, war crimes and genocide” under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the U.S. War Crimes Act and the Genocide Convention Implementation Act.
The Boeing representative did not acknowledge the letters, and recruiters from the majority of companies present took down their tables approximately 20 minutes after protesters arrived, ahead of the event’s scheduled end time of 3 p.m.
The protesters also intended to confront L3Harris, a company that manufactures defense technology. However, the company’s table was empty.
According to Yihun Stith ’26, a spokesperson for CML, coalition members were at an L3Harris information session earlier this week where they asked the representative “very pointed questions related to their complicity in the genocide in Gaza.”
“I think that scared them off, and they decided not to show up,” Stith said.
Stith said Cornell should prevent Boeing from returning to campus while “they’re complicit in this genocide” considering “70 percent of undergraduates do not want [Boeing] here,” referencing the majority vote to the S.A. referendum.
CML spokesperson Sara Almosawi ’25 emphasized that the majority of the student body voted against investment in the weapons manufacturers present at the career fair.
“We made our voices heard through the referendum last spring, and the University not only completely ignored the wishes of the student body, but continued its complicity through its investments and by continuing to invite these weapons manufacturers to take part in our campus culture,” Almosawi said. “That is completely unacceptable.”
According to the University statement, Cornell Police are working to identify protesters who violated University policies. Students involved will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards for disciplinary action including suspension, and faculty and staff will be referred to Human Resources. Protesters may face criminal charges, the statement explained.
Julia Senzon ’26 contributed reporting.