Cornell is a place where you can find many interesting characters: the Cornell Batman, the students who skinned a bear in their dorm kitchen and that guy who dances everywhere he goes around campus, to name a few. Some of these people rise to fame on campus, whether on purpose, like in Batman’s case, or by accident, as in the case of the young hunters. Sometimes these people are loved by all. At other times, they are neither loved nor hated. However, it is rare, if not unheard of, for a student to descend into such universal infamy.
Then came Austin Franco.
“Not interested in working for a Jew,” he told Aiden Einhorn of VrfyID (now known as Nessoo), who still wanted to interview Franco for an internship after Franco had not attended a company meeting.
Antisemitism has skyrocketed both in the United States and abroad since Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023. With that rise in antisemitism, there has been no shortage of debate over how to define antisemitism. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the Nexus Project and the Jerusalem Declaration diverge in a number of ways, particularly on speech about Israel. Francos’s remark, however, meets the criteria for antisemitism under all three.
Cornell has stopped short of adopting one definition, though it is arguably bound by the Department of Education’s adoption of the IHRA definition. However, you do not need to adopt a single definition to see the antisemitism in Franco’s words, not only in his initial message to Einhorn, but also in his subsequent conduct, accepting donations captioned “sick and tired of Jewish terrorism against Americans,” “Franco did nothing wrong,” and “Free Palestine.”
The University knows this and rightfully denounced the comments Franco made on Piers Morgan Uncensored. In that statement, University President Michael I. Kotlikoff wrote that “Cornell has an obligation to fiercely defend freedom of speech – even when we find that speech abhorrent.”
President Kotlikoff is right: Franco’s interview, in which he made comments that are even worse than his original message to Einhorn, is protected by the First Amendment. However, Kotlikoff’s statement notably omits any direct reference to Franco’s original message, whose status is not so simple.
Franco’s exchange with Einhorn was not some casual exchange. Franco used Handshake, a platform provided to him by Cornell, to direct a flagrantly discriminatory remark at a Jewish man, in a pretty glaring violation of University Policy 6.4.1. While the University may be precluded from releasing specific information about Franco’s case, Franco stated that he has faced no disciplinary action and presumably would have said otherwise if he had. So, even though Cornell cannot comment, they must surely know that whatever they do in such a situation will become public information. At a time when higher education is facing unprecedented scrutiny from every possible source, good public perception matters.
There is no need to speculate about the reputational damage this has done. This story has made its way into many publications, from our very own The Cornell Daily Sun to national outlets like Fox News. The story has even made its way abroad, running in The Independent and The Times of Israel.
This isn't a case of some kid saying something stupid for attention. He had multiple opportunities to apologize. Instead, he invoked physiognomy, which is widely considered a pseudoscience. He defended his remarks before millions of people on Piers Morgan Uncensored. He accepted tens of thousands of dollars in donations from neo-Nazis.
Cornell cannot keep pretending this problem does not exist. One of its students used a platform it provided to discriminate. That student has not only refused to apologize, but has doubled down in every imaginable way.
This is not normal. He cannot possibly be trusted to treat his Jewish peers with dignity. This reflects poorly on all of us. It is time for the University to act accordingly.
Ezra Galperin '27 is an Opinion Columnist and a Government and Jewish Studies student in the College of Arts and Sciences. His fortnightly column, Ezra's Cornell, discusses campus politics and how they are affected by the wider political climate. He can be reached at egalperin@cornellsun.com.
