Elite University Vandalized With Pro-Palestinian Graffiti On First Day Of Classes

Cornell University’s main administrative building was vandalized Monday with pro-Palestinian messages, marking a tumultuous start to the fall semester, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.

The building’s glass door was shattered and the messages “Israel bombs, Cornell pays” and “blood is on your hands” were written in red spray paint on the morning of the first day of classes, according to the Sun. Cornell is one of many universities that saw protests and other unrest in the fall and spring semesters following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel that left over 1,200 dead.

“We had to accept that the only way to make ourselves heard is by targeting the only thing the university administration truly cares about: property,” the activists responsible for the damage, who remained anonymous, told the Sun. “With the start of this new academic year, the Cornell administration is trying desperately to upkeep a facade of normalcy knowing that, since last semester, they have been working tirelessly to uphold Cornell’s function as a fascist, classist, imperial machine.”

In April, Cornell students voted overwhelmingly in favor of two referendums calling on the university to publicly support a ceasefire in Gaza and divest from weapons manufacturers they claim were supporting the ongoing war, according to the Sun. The vandals cited the former university president Martha Pollack’s inaction to fulfill these demands as part of the reason for defacing the building, claiming she “tried to sneak away into retirement.”

“We are appalled by the graffiti spraypainted, and glass shattered overnight along the front entrance of Day Hall,” Joel M. Malina, vice president for university relations, said in a