On March 10, 2025, I was arrested for walking out of a panel of Israeli and American war criminals. On March 19, I was notified of “interim action” and “temporary restrictions” against me under the Student Code of Conduct.
For many Cornell students, the Code is nebulous. Perhaps you’ve heard about student protestors being suspended, evicted or deported under the Code, but it’s an overly-complicated bureaucratic process that remains hidden behind the walls of Day Hall.
Many Cornell students also know that in 1969, Black students took over Willard Straight Hall. What you may not know is that one of the key demands they won was the creation of a Campus Code of Conduct, in response to the administration’s overly harsh punishment of Black students.
After the Pathways to “Peace” event last semester, I received what Cornell previously has described as a “non-academic suspension.” However, by the time my case came to Liang’s desk, she refused to use the term, likely due to bad publicity. I was allowed to continue my academic progress, but was essentially constrained to my dorm room anytime I was not in class.
There exists an appeals process for temporary restrictions, which involves filing a written request to the Vice President for Student and Campus Life, currently Ryan Lombardi. Given that Lombardi has not once accepted an appeal, my RCC advised me that it would be a waste of time to even write a request.
My process to reach an Alternate Resolution stretched unnecessarily from March 19 until May 5 — almost 50 days — and this was OSCCS in hyperspeed. Students who are temporarily suspended have waited an average of 264 days for their cases to be resolved through a hearing.
In addition to pursuing disciplinary action against me through OSCCS, Cornell also took me to court. On April 9, I appeared at the Ithaca City Court on charges of disorderly conduct. This was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, and they are now fully dismissed. It’s not just me — every single student protestor who’s ever been brought to court by Cornell over the past two years has had their charges fully dismissed.
On Aug. 26, Ryan Lombardi announced a “formal review process” to revise the Code during the 2025-26 academic year, with the changes taking effect by next fall. In this statement and in his remarks to the Student Assembly, Lombardi repeatedly emphasized his desire to hear and respond to student suggestions during this process.
The Cornell community has already made clear that we believe the Code, as it stands, is undemocratic and disproportionate in its targeting of political activists. As Lombardi spoke, over 100 students turned their backs on him and President Kotlikoff.
I’m here to propose concrete changes.
While my experience was one of the faster protest-related resolutions, I strongly believe that strict time limits on the procedure and communication requirements are necessary. OSCCS staff who exercise control over your entire life and wellbeing as a student should not be able to ignore your emails for days or weeks on end, requiring multiple follow-ups from multiple parties to receive a simple response.
The appeal process, as it currently exists, is a complete farce. When administrators charge you with a violation, administrators enact the punishment, and administrators hear your appeal — they are serving as judge, jury and executioner. Under the Code, appeals of temporary suspensions can only be granted by the V.P. of SCL. Conveniently, the Code Procedures already provide for a Hearing and Review Board of students, faculty and staff, meaning the ability to review and grant appeals could easily be transferred over to them. In fact, this is how appeals used to work, prior to the administration’s theft of the Code in 2020.
Overall, we must separate OSCCS from the administration. One example of the dishonest dealings under the current Code procedures is that the chair of the supposedly autonomous Hearing and Review Board is appointed by the director of OSCCS. How can someone be trusted to run an independent hearing process if they are appointed by the same person who is charged with imposing the discipline in question?
This year, Cornell celebrates the 100th anniversary of Willard Straight Hall, calling it a space where “voices are amplified” and noting that the 1969 takeover “became a catalyst for profound change to ensure Cornell upholds its founding commitment to ‘any person.’”
Ironic that this same year, Cornell is stripping away the last vestiges of a democratic campus Code, a key legacy of the takeover. From the silencing of pro-Palestinian students to international students’ fear of deportation to Cornell’s $60 million payout to the Trump administration, our campus democracy is under unprecedented threat.
This Friday, you have the opportunity to vote on two propositions — whether Cornell’s judicial system should be independent of the University’s administration and whether Cornell should return to a community-wide Campus Code of Conduct. This is a chance to show our administrators that the Cornell community supports justice and due process, not corruption and repression.
I urge you to vote yes.
Adriana Vink '27 is an Opinion Columnist and a student in Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Her fortnightly column One Day Longer takes aim at campus politics, international relations and labor exploitation. She can be reached at avink@cornellsun.com.
