Nearly 20 students held a demonstration during a General Electric Aerospace internship information session attended by roughly 60 students on Wednesday evening in Caldwell Hall. The demonstrators protested against GE Aerospace’s role in supplying engines and turbines used in Israeli military operations in Gaza and Cornell’s decision to host the company’s recruiting session.
GE Aerospace is an aviation engine supply company that provides engines and other parts to “commercial, military, business, and general aviation aircraft,” according to its website.
The demonstration was organized by Students Not Bombs, a student campaign comprising Jewish Voice for Peace, Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America and Students for Justice in Palestine demanding that the University divest from Israel, end Cornell Career Services recruitment for weapons manufacturers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sever its ties with the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and invest in Ithaca.
“We believe that as Cornell Career Services continues to host companies like [GE Aerospace], they are continuing our complicity in genocide,” said Adriana Vink ’27, SJP co-president and opinion columnist for The Sun. “We came here today to stand against that.”
SJP Co-President Yasmeen Masoud ’28 said that the demonstration is one of many ways the Student Not Bombs campaign plans to pressure the administration to divest.
“We will be continuing to push for Cornell to divest from weapons manufacturers and stop behavior like this, where Career Services invites recruiters like GE Aerospace who have a direct hand in the creation, engineering and manufacturing that contribute[s] to fighter jets that are being used in Gaza against innocent civilians and journalists,” Masoud said.
The information session, hosted by GE Aerospace engineers Kelly Irons ’22 and Katie Sternkopf ’23, was intended for mechanical and aerospace engineering and material sciences engineering students to learn more about the company and career opportunities.
Demonstrators and students gathered at 6 p.m. in Caldwell Hall, with demonstrators occupying the first two rows of the classroom and the remaining students filling the seats behind them.
The event was monitored by the Cornell University Police Department, with multiple officers outside of the building and inside the classroom throughout the whole event, along with one Cornell University Public Safety ambassador and University staff who were present.
Before the GE Aerospace representatives gave their presentation, Greta Kenney, senior associate dean of students for student support and advocacy services, read the University’s Expressive Activity Policy, stating that speakers “have a right to speak without intimidation, and the audience has a right to hear what the speakers have to say.”
Kenney also told the crowd that students who violate these policies may be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
After Kenney reminded the crowd of University policy, Irons and Sternkopf gave their presentation on GE Aerospace’s work in aviation technology and internship opportunities, while protesters silently held up signs reading “Free Free Palestine” and “Genocide Enabling Aerospace.”
After Irons and Sternkopf finished their presentation, they opened up the room to a Q&A session.
Multiple demonstrators raised their hands from the first two rows, but the speakers only took questions from the students in the back, who asked questions about internships and the company.
One student asked a pointed question during the Q&A session referencing the company’s blood donation volunteer events, which the speakers mentioned earlier in the session.
“Were you ever thinking of the blood of the people killed by the engines GE Aerospace made [and] sold to the military?” he asked.
“That’s not what we’re here to talk about today,” Sternkopf answered. “We’re proud of the work that we do, which is supporting the flying public and supporting humanitarian and rescue missions across the globe, and supporting the military and our allies.”
Bryan Kim ’27, a mechanical engineering student who wrote a guest article for The Sun in defense of defense contractors, told The Sun that students in engineering at Cornell need to “make the investment worth it” by leveraging Cornell connections in order to secure a job.
“[The demonstrators] are free to believe what they want to believe in, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of engineering students,” Kim said.
Masoud said that the GE Aerospace speakers “focused primarily on the commercial side of what they do,” which she felt was “intentional.”
“They refused to take any questions about anything more related to the military work that they do, so there was no mention of their hand in the creation of things like fighter jets,” Masoud said.
“I totally respect the demonstrators and what they’re doing here,” Sternkopf told The Sun. “I think we were able to get through the event without much turn, and hopefully the people that were here because they’re interested in GE got the information they were looking for. People got to express themselves, so I think it was a good event.”
Sophia Riley Sim is a member of the Class of 2028 in the Brooks School of Public Policy. She is a senior writer in the news department and a staff photographer. She can be reached at ssim@cornellsun.com.
