Administration considers grad student ‘danger to public health and safety’
Cornell University activists are rallying to support a grad student who faces criminal charges for his involvement in a violent anti-Israel campus protest earlier this semester, a student who also praised a social media post calling for “Death to America.”
Sriram Parasurama, a second-year PhD student who pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of obstructing government administration and unlawful assembly, appeared in court Nov. 22 and asked for a reduced non-criminal charge of disorderly conduct, the Cornell Daily Sun reported.
If the district attorney’s office accepts the offer, Parasurama would no longer face the possibility of jailtime and up to a $1,000 fine, the Sun reported, noting a deal might be reached soon.
Parasurama has also reportedly been suspended and banned from campus for three years, a status he confirmed in an op-ed in the Sun decrying his situation as unfair and unjust.
The School of Integrative Plant Science grad student has become something of a martyr among pro-Palestinian Cornell activists and those who argue he was only exercising his right to free speech when in mid-September he helped the Coalition for Mutual Liberation shut down a campus career fair that included Boeing, which does business with Israel.
Cornell released video footage of the protest showing aggressive anti-Israel protesters shoving and barging their way past officers, ignoring and disobeying orders to back off, as The College Fix previously reported.
Earlier this semester, Parasurama also reposted an image of an X post on Instagram that said, “Death to America, the root of all evil, the head of the snake,” according to a screenshot. He captioned it: “Not a threat, a promise” along with a saluting emoji.
Parasurama did not respond to emailed requests from The College Fix seeking comment.
Meet Sriram Parasurama, a Graduate student in Cornell’s School of Integrative Plant Science, and leader in Students for Justice in Palestine.
Parasurama proudly posts that he promises to bring “Death to America.” It would be a shame if this went viral and he got deported. pic.twitter.com/jbB7HEEO7g
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) November 3, 2024
Two weeks ago, ahead of Parasurama’s court hearing, about 100 protesters took part in a campus protest to defend him, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. Organized by grad student unions and other activists, protestors held signs stating “Hands off Sriram” and “Scientists Rise Up!”
Nine people, including a professor, spoke at the event with chants in between, according to the Sun. Speakers argued this is Parasurama’s first violation of the Student Code of Conduct so he should not have been suspended.
“According to a letter from Parasurama that was read at the rally, the administration has considered him ‘a danger to public health and safety.’ His three-year fellowship with the National Science Foundation is at risk of being revoked since his de-enrollment. As of right now, he cannot continue his research, other speakers explained,” the Sun reported.
Cornell’s media relations division and its Office of Student Conduct have not responded to several requests for comment from The College Fix.
Parasurama was arrested Oct. 9 outside his home for his involvement in the career fair melee, he wrote in his op-ed.
Michael Kotlikoff, interim president at Cornell University, issued a statement Sept. 30 that explained why campus leaders are taking the situation so seriously.
“[A] clear line was crossed when individuals forced their way into the Statler Ballroom to disrupt a university event. To safeguard the rights of everyone in our community and our ability to continue pursuing our academic mission, it is the obligation of the university to respond in a way that recognizes the seriousness of this behavior,” Kotlikoff stated.
“…Both those who pushed police out of the way at each point and those who followed after did so with the full knowledge that they were violating policy.”
In total, 15 students have been suspended, according to the Cornell Daily Sun, with five students banned from campus for years — but multiple campus organizations are pressuring the university to “overturn the suspensions” through petitions, phone calls, and emails.
In his op-ed, Parasurama defended himself by saying his actions were “apolitical.”
“I am being punished without due process as I am considered an immediate ‘danger to public health and safety.’ However, in suppressing my voice, the University administration has done the impossible — politicized the apolitical,” he wrote.
Parasurama is an outspoken anti-Israel activist and openly criticizes Cornell leaders.
“‘The people that are in charge of running this University actively contradict what we have voted in favor of,’ ” Parasurama told the Sun in November.
The chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees, Kraig Keyser, has more than 30,000 shares in the weapon manufacturing company Moog, and has been on its Board of Directors for 26 years, the Sun reported. Moog manufactures parts for war planes, which have been used in Israeli assaults in the Hamas-Israel conflict.
“Last spring, undergraduates at Cornell passed a referendum by a two-to-one ratio calling for the University to divest from weapons manufacturers and call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” but it was overturned at the time, the Sun reported.
“It’s a major conflict of interest that one of the most powerful people at this University has their fingers deeply entrenched in war profiteering,’ “ Parasurama told the Sun.
MORE: Cornell restores disruptive pro-Palestinian activist’s visa
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