The Cornell University professor who praised the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel as “exhilarating and energizing” has returned to teach at the Ivy League school in the upstate, he revealed. the new york post .History professor Russell Rickford has been away for a year on “voluntary leave” following massive public outcry when he was filmed at an off-campus anti-Israel rally, celebrating the Hamas attack. “It was exhilarating, it was energizing… I was elated,” Rickford said at the time, before apologizing for applauding the mass murder of innocent civilians.
According to the Post, Russell Rickford will teach at least two courses at Cornell this semester: “The African American Vision of America” and “Socialism in America,” as well as a seminar. Cornell confirmed in a statement that the university did not discipline Rickford for his hateful remarks and did not clarify whether the professor was paid while on leave. Rickford’s comments were condemned by the administration at the time as “reprehensible” because they showed “an utter disregard for humanity,” but Joel Malina, vice president of university affairs at Cornell, said “they are nevertheless protected by his free speech rights.” But that’s not all, as Malina also said: “Given that Professor Rickford’s comments were made as a private citizen on his own time, the university’s academic leadership has concluded that Professor Rickford’s conduct in relation to this incident did not rise to a high level to warrant otherwise.”
Rep. Claudia Tenney said she will send a letter to Cornell Interim President Michael Kotlikoff to protest Rickford’s return. “I am deeply disgusted by Cornell’s decision to continue to employ Mr. Rickford following his horrific statements celebrating the murder of innocent people and inciting violence. Regardless of one’s views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the loss of life, especially women, children, and the elderly, including Holocaust survivors, should never be characterized as energizing or uplifting. Professor Rickford holds a position within the university that allows him to shape and influence young minds. This position demands a higher standard of behavior, free from anti-Semitic rhetoric and vocal support for terrorism. By perpetuating these abhorrent views, Professor Rickford has not only violated his ethical responsibility as an educator, he has also endangered the safety of the Jewish community and stained Cornell,” Tenney said in the letter to the New York Post. The Russell Rickford incident was just one of many anti-Semitic incidents on the Cornell University campus. The most high-profile incident at Cornell was the arrest of Patrick Dai, a 21-year-old third-year student, who threatened a mass shooting and anti-Semitic violence at Cornell University. The threatening messages, posted in October on a forum for fraternities and sororities, alarmed students at the upstate New York school and led to warnings that they should not eat at the school’s kosher cafeteria.
@reproduction reserved
