Cornell Must Stand By Its Own Students

Two graduate students fled the country to avoid ICE detention over their pro-Palestine activism. Cornell had told them they could keep their funding and finish their degrees remotely. Now the university says come back or lose everything.

As The Intercept reports, Momodou Taal and Amandla Thomas-Johnson left the U.S. in 2025 after the Trump administration began pursuing them over a 2024 protest against weapons manufacturers recruiting on campus. Cornell had assured them, along with the graduate student union, that they could complete their degrees abroad with continued funding. This June, the university reversed course, telling both students they must teach in person in Ithaca this fall or lose their sole source of income.

Cornell's own graduate school documents show Taal's funding was guaranteed through 2027. The students' attorney and the graduate union both note the timing: Cornell struck a $60 million deal with the Trump administration last November, and this funding reversal targets the first two students affected are the same two who led protests against the university's ties to weapons manufacturers.

Returning to the U.S. could mean immediate detention for both students. Cornell has acknowledged as much in private while publicly denying any connection between this policy and their activism.

Add your name to demand that Cornell honor its original commitment to Taal and Thomas-Johnson, restore their funding without requiring them to risk detention, and stop using funding decisions to punish students for protected speech.

A university that abandons its own students under political pressure isn't protecting anyone. It's teaching a lesson about who gets to speak freely, and who doesn't.