Karlie McGann/Sun Assistant Photography Editor

Momodou Taal speaks to a crowd gathered on the Commons for a pro-Palestinian protest on Oct. 5.

October 10, 2024

Suspended International Graduate Student Can Continue Studies Remotely, Remains Barred from Campus, Interim Provost Decides

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Momodou Taal, the suspended international graduate student activist, will remain banned from campus, but is no longer at risk of losing his student visa and can continue finishing his dissertation remotely, Interim Provost John Siliciano ’75 wrote in a Wednesday email to Taal obtained by The Sun. 

Siliciano’s decision is final and brings to a close a two-week-long appeals process that Taal hoped would end with his suspension being overturned. Siliciano also said Taal would no longer be able to teach his First-Year Writing Seminar because it is not a requirement for his degree. 

Taal said teaching the FWS — “What is Blackness? Race and Processes of Racialization” under the Africana Studies and Research Center — was valuable for his academic career.

“There was a process of development for me … [and] for the students as well, the ability to kind of discuss what it means to be Black, what is Blackness and in my course how they relate to the spaces in which they’re in,” Taal told The Sun. 

Taal was suspended on Sept. 23 after he participated in a pro-Palestinian protest that shut down a Statler Hall career fair featuring defense contractors L3Harris and Boeing. At the career fair disruption, Taal entered Statler Hall against orders from University officials and failed to leave when asked, according to a complaint Cornell University Police Department Lieutenant Scott Grantz ’99 filed with the University. 

Taal appealed his suspension first to Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi, who, according to Taal, denied it “after one business day,” before Taal appealed the decision to Siliciano. Taal has disputed the charges against him and repeatedly said the University has not provided him with due process. 

“I maintain that all my actions have been peaceful and in accordance with my First Amendment rights,” Taal posted on X late last month, after Lombardi struck down his first appeal. 

Siliciano wrote that while he understood the freedom of speech argument, Taal infringed on the rights of other students who wanted to attend the career fair and created a security threat to other students. 

“I do not doubt the sincerity of these emotions, but I think it critically important to note that there are thousands of students, staff and faculty who have equally strong and painful views on all sides of this crisis and yet manage their fear, anger and turmoil without interfering with the rights of others,” Siliciano wrote. 

While the decision on the suspension is final, Siliciano wrote that Taal had an alternative path to work with Liang to find a resolution to reduce or eliminate the other restrictions. 

Since Taal already completed all coursework for his graduate degree, he will not be allowed to physically return to campus. Instead, Siliciano said that Taal would be allowed to access University materials online to continue his dissertation work. 

“I strongly urge you to reconsider this pathway to full resolution so that your energy is fully available, as you have indicated is now your wish, to focus on completing your Cornell education,” Siliciano wrote. 

However, Taal said not being able to access resources in person restricts his ability to do research. 

“I’m going to have to meet committee members off campus when I do things on Zoom,” Taal said. “I don’t have access to any libraries, so I have to either get someone to pick up books for me or get them delivered to somewhere else, outside of campus.”

Cornell Graduate Students United announced Wednesday night that the union would bargain over Taal’s teaching restrictions based on a memorandum of agreement the University signed with CGSU in July 2024. The MOA gives the union the right to bargain over the effects of academic discipline of graduate students as long as it affects their working conditions. CGSU argued that the MOA is applicable in Taal’s case since he taught an FWS.

Nearly 20 other pro-Palestinian protesters who helped shut down the career fair were identified through video and photographic evidence and referred for disciplinary action, according to a Sept. 30 email from Interim President Michael Kotlikoff to the Cornell community. 

Kotlikoff wrote that protesters were explicitly told that they were not permitted to enter Statler Hotel by Cornell University Police Department officers and pushed through police at the ground-floor and second-floor entrances.

“The question of me, the question of Palestine, has begun to expose the ways in which our institutions work, and it’s not a surprise that those who are protesting [in support of] Palestine are met with such oppressive tactics,” Taal said. 

This is Taal’s second suspension. His first came in the spring for his involvement in the pro-Palestinian encampment on the Arts Quad.