Ivy League school slammed after professor calls Israel attack 'exhilarating': 'A much deeper problem'

FIRST ON FOX: A Cornell University law professor is calling for an independent commission to evaluate antisemitism at the Ivy League school after remarks by an associate professor who said he was "exhilarated" to hear of the deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists. 

William A. Jacobson, a clinical professor at the Cornell Law School and founder of the Equal Protection Project, said the Ithaca, New York, institution has become "balkanized by an aggressive focus on racial, ethnic, religious, gender and other identities through an ‘anti-racist’ and ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’ agenda imposed on the campus by the senior administration."

"Almost everything now is viewed through an identity lens, pitting groups against each other, pitting colleagues against one another, and pitting students against their peers," Jacobson said in a statement.

"There is substantial evidence that such DEI programming makes race and other relations worse, not better. We are seeing that play out in real time in the Cornell community."

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Campus leaders and Jewish voices are sounding the alarm on antisemitism at U.S. colleges following Hamas' terrorist attack against Israeli civilians. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images I Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

Jacobson said school administrators have contributed to the failure to stamp out a toxic campus culture and that the entire campus DEI program and agenda should be "revisited, reworked or removed."

"The Cornell Board of Trustees is meeting this weekend, and no doubt the controversy will be a topic of discussion. But those comments by that professor are merely an outward manifestation of a much deeper problem on campus that the board must address," he said. 

"Those comments by that professor are merely an outward manifestation of a much deeper problem on campus that the board must address …" 

— Cornell University Professor William Jacobson

In an effort to effect change, Jacobson is asking the Cornell Board of Trustees at its meeting this weekend to consider a pause on all new administrative DEI initiatives for the remainder of this academic year and until permanent changes are considered. He's asking the school to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism and to form an independent commission to investigate antisemitism on campus and the negative effects of DEI.

Colleges across the country have become embroiled in controversy after the failure of university officials to distance their schools from pro-Palestinian demonstrations and statements from student groups blaming Israel for the unprovoked attack on its citizens and its bombing campaign of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in the days since.

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Supporters of Palestinians gather at Harvard University to show their support at a rally in Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 14, 2023. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history at Cornell, said he was "exhilarated" by the ambush killings at a pro-Palestinian rally. 

"It was exhilarating, it was energizing. If they [the Palestinians] weren't exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, by the shifting of this balance of power, they would not be human. I was exhilarated," he told the crowd, who responded with cheers. 

Rickford apologized this week for his remarks, saying he made a "horrible choice of words."

"I recognize that some of the language I used was reprehensible and did not reflect my values," he said in a statement published by The Cornell Daily Sun. "As I said in the speech, I abhor violence and the violent targeting of civilians. I am sorry for the pain that my reckless remarks have caused my family, my students, my colleagues and many others in this time of suffering.

"I want to make it clear that I unequivocally oppose and denounce racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, militarism, fundamentalism and all systems that dehumanize, divide and oppress people."

A joint statement released earlier this week by Cornell University President Martha E. Pollack and Cornell University Board of Trustees Chair Kraig H. Kayser called Rickford's comments about the attacks "reprehensible" and that such statements go against what the university stands for. 

Other anti-Israel events on campuses around the country have portrayed Israel as an oppressor, leading to criticism from alumni and resulting in several employers rescinding job offers to students. 

Cornell declined to comment on Jacobson's remarks. 

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..