Exclusive: Rep. Wesley Hunt Demands Answers from Cornell over Antisemitism on Campus

Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), who has earned three master’s degrees from Cornell University, has sent a pointed letter to his alma mater’s president, expressing that he is “deeply disturbed by the continued reports of antisemitism” on the campus, according to a copy of the letter exclusively obtained by Breitbart News. 

The letter comes a day after police were dispatched to a Kosher dining hall at Cornell following online threats to attack Jewish students on campus, including one that threatened “to bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig Jews,” as Breitbart News noted, citing the Cornell Daily Sun. 

The campus issued an emergency warning that stated campus police were “investigating posts located on a website that contain threats of violence directed at religious groups across the campus.”

In his letter to University President Martha E. Pollack, Hunt highlighted her comments on Sunday that “we will not tolerate antisemitism at Cornell,” but said he found it “hard to believe” in light of History Professor Russell Rickford praising Hamas’s attack. 

“I pray that you are serious about the university’s position on antisemitism, but I find it hard to believe considering just days before these threats, Cornell Associate Professor of History Russell Rickford said that he was ‘exhilarated’ and ‘energized’ by the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel,” Hunt wrote. 

WPH Letter to Cornell by Breitbart News on Scribd

“Friends and alumnus were not only shocked to hear such vile language from a member of the Cornell family, but I was shocked further to find out he is currently on leave and has not been immediately terminated,” Hunt added. 

Hunt called for Pollack and university leadership “to immediately detail the steps it has undertaken to protect Jewish students on campus, to provide written guidance to the staff on the use of antisemitic language, and to publicly declare” Rickford’s employment status. 

Hunt demanded to know if the professor was on paid or unpaid leave. 

“If either are true, is it the intention of the university to terminate this person pending an investigation of his actions during a rally in Ithaca, New York on October 17?” he wondered. 

Rickford celebrated Hamas for “shift[ing] the balance of power” during the rally several weeks ago, as Breitbart News noted.

“Hamas has shifted the balance of power. Hamas has punctured the illusion of invincibility. That’s what they’ve done!” he proclaimed. “You don’t have to be a Hamas supporter to recognize that! Hamas has changed the terms of debate!”

“Israeli officials are right. Nothing will be the same again. Hamas has challenged the monopoly of violence,” Rickford added.

Pollack and Cornell Board of Trustees Chair Kraig H. Kayser said in a statement to Breitbart News at the time that Rickford’s comment was “reprehensible.” 

“As we said in yesterday’s statement, endorsed by senior leadership of the Board of Trustees, any members of our community who have made such statements do not speak for Cornell; in fact, they speak in direct opposition to all we stand for at Cornell,” they added. 

Pollack and Kayser noted the university was reviewing the incident “consistent with our procedures.”