He was suspended in the spring for helping organize the pro-Palestine encampment on the Arts Quad. Now, Momodou Taal, an international graduate student from the United Kingdom, says he faces “effectively being deported by the weekend” after the University sent him an email on Monday informing him of a second suspension.
The suspension comes after Taal and other Cornell students shut down a career fair in Statler Hall last Wednesday attended by defense contractors L3Harris and Boeing. In the email to Taal, which The Sun obtained, Christina Liang, who directs the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, said that Taal had been reported to the University by Cornell University Police Department Lieutenant Scott Grantz ’99 for not complying with orders from University officials at last week’s protest.
According to Grantz’s complaint, Taal entered the career fair alongside other protesters after being warned not to by University officials and participated in “unreasonably loud” chants.
In the email, Liang wrote that Taal’s behavior demonstrated “escalating, egregious behavior and a disregard for the University policies” and called Taal to a same-day noon meeting at Day Hall. At the meeting, Taal was handed a physical copy of a no-trespass order barring him from entering campus.
Liang told Taal that his F-1 visa would be terminated, and referred him to a senior immigration advisor.
Taal, a vocal campus activist, was suspended last semester over his involvement in the pro-Palestine encampment. International students on their second or third suspension are in violation of F-1 regulations and could have their student visas pulled, requiring them to leave the country.
Taal was an instructor for “What is Blackness? Race and Processes of Racialization,” a First-Year Writing Seminar under the Africana Studies and Research Center. He was informed by Liang on Monday that he would no longer be allowed to teach the course. Taal told The Sun he no longer had access to the Canvas page for the class.
“They are doing this to shift the focus away from their complicity in genocide,” Taal said. “It’s telling that they think it’s more important to suspend me than taking seriously their investment in the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians.”
Taal told The Sun that the suspension was proof to him that the University had singled him out.
“If you look at the makeup of these protesters, it is clear that they targeted a visible Black person of the Islamic faith,” Taal said.
A University spokesperson declined to comment on Taal’s case.
From Aug. 11 to 13, The Sun, national and local media outlets, politicians and University officials, including Cornell’s president and trustees, received more than 400 emails in a write-in campaign urging Cornell not to reinstate Taal as a student this fall. Most of the emails were titled “Concern Regarding the Reinstatement of Student Momodou Taal for Fall 2024.”
“There is a targeted campaign of intimidation and harassment against me from Cornell’s administration and police,” Taal tweeted to his 26.9 thousand followers on X Monday afternoon. “I have been suspended again. I had no chance to dispute the charges, nor see the evidence or appeal.”
Two hours after Taal’s Monday afternoon post, Interim President Michael Kotlikoff and Interim Provost John Siliciano released a statement to the Cornell community vowing the University would take action to discipline those involved in the career fair disruption, including immediate suspensions, “sanctions up to and including dismissals” for faculty and referrals to the Tompkins County District Attorney for “any protester who engaged in criminal activity.”
Kotlikoff and Siliciano said the protesters had used “intimidating tactics,” including knocking off an officer’s body camera, and made guests of the University feel threatened. “Actions have consequences, on campus and in the criminal justice system,” Kotlikoffand Siliciano added.
Sun reporters on the scene did not witness any physical violence toward law enforcement but noted distress among recruiters, students and University officials at the career fair.
Taal denied the allegations outlined in the CUPD complaint. He told The Sun that he gave a speech outside Day Hall before participating in the career fair disruption, but said he had only attended the protest for five minutes before promptly leaving.