Around 100 protesters rallied outside Mann Library on Friday in support of suspended pro-Palestinian graduate student Sriram Parasurama, who was recently de-enrolled from the University over his participation in the Sept. 18 career fair shutdown. The rally was organized by graduate students in the School of Integrated Plant Sciences in collaboration with Cornell Graduate Students United.
Speakers at the rally claimed that Parasurama has not been afforded due process and just cause, as CGSU continues to bargain with Cornell’s administration over his case.
Parasurama was arrested on Oct. 9 on two charges stemming from the career fair disruption and appeared in court on Nov. 6 alongside two other students, where he pleaded not guilty. He was also issued a three-year campus ban and recently de-enrolled from the University altogether, according to the Coalition for Mutual Liberation.
According to a letter from Parasurama that was read at the rally, the administration has considered him “a danger to public health and safety.” His three-year fellowship with the National Science Foundation is at risk of being revoked since his de-enrollment. As of right now, he cannot continue his research, other speakers explained.
The CGSU rally featured Parasurama’s peers in the School of Integrative Plant Science. Parasurama’s graduate classmates Olga Khmelnitsky and Katie Rohrbaugh led the event and introduced speakers.
A crowd of about 50 people gathered at 3 p.m. on the Tsujimoto Family Plaza, but it grew to approximately 100 by the time the rally finished at roughly 4:30 p.m. Demonstrators were provided with signs and noisemakers such as pots and pans by organizers, and they were also given informational handouts about CGSU and a list of chants.
The organizers began with a land acknowledgment and discussed the difficult events that have happened in the past week on campus, including a report of sexual assault and drugging at a fraternity and the death of a Cornell sophomore. They thanked the attendees for coming to show support for Parasurama, standing in front of signs that said “Hands off Sriram” and “Scientists Rise Up!”
A total of nine people spoke, including many graduate students, a professor and a local community member. Khmelnitsky and Rohrbaugh led chants between speeches.
The speakers criticized the University’s treatment of Parasurama’s case. Prof. Begüm Adalet, government, called it “draconian” and “without due process.” She also further criticized the University as a whole for “not protecting” its students.
Other speakers repeated this sentiment, saying that they need “just cause,” emphasizing that this was only Parasurama’s first Student Code of Conduct violation and that the University must follow the terms outlined in CGSU’s Memorandum of Agreement. The MOA was approved in July 2024 and requires the University to bargain with CGSU over any disciplinary action against graduate students that impacts their working conditions.
Ph.D. candidate Sophia Taborski accused the University of “censorship” and compared how it ended Parasurama’s academic progress with the Nazi regime expelling “politically undesirable” faculty from universities.
Speakers also acknowledged that Parasurama’s case was ultimately tied back to the pro-Palestine protest for divestment. “We know it is ultimately about Palestine,” Taborski said.
Speakers and organizers also encouraged people to participate in a silent study-in at Mann Library at 3 p.m. on Nov. 19 to protest the University’s “censorship of pro-Palestine activism” and “to show support for divestment.”
At the end of the rally, Mary Anne Grady Flores, a member of Ithaca Catholic Worker, encouraged attendees to call in and contact their senators to block $20 billion in offensive weaponry going to Israel.
Ultimately, organizers reaffirmed that the primary focus of the rally was meant to support Parasurama, urging people to support him as they dispersed.
CSGU’s bargaining with the University is still ongoing, according to Khmelnitsky and Rohrbaugh. They are working for Parasurama to receive “basic just cause and basic due process” and “hope that” Parasurama knows that “the community is with him”.
“The administration is not here for us,” Khmelnitsky said. “It starts with Sriram, but it ends with all of us.”
Angelina Tang ’28 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].
Correction, Nov. 16, 4:03 p.m.: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Sriram Parasurama lost his National Science Foundation due to his de-enrollment. He is, instead, currently at risk of losing the fellowship.