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Cornell University President Resigns Amid Pro-Hamas Demonstrations
Cornell University anti-Israel protesters set up encampment on the University’s Arts Quad, May 3, 2024. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect
Cornell University president Martha Pollack has resigned amid weeks of convulsive protests and disruptions on campus caused by mobs of pro-Hamas students and faculty.
Pollack made the decision in December, according to a statement she issued on Wednesday, and will formally leave office in June.
“Continued delay is not in the university’s best interests, both because of the need to have sufficient time for a smooth transition before the start of the academic year, and because I do not want my announcement to interfere with the celebration of our newest graduates at commencement in just a few weeks,” Pollack said.
She continued, “I understand that there will be lots of speculation about my decision, so let me be as clear as I can: this decision is mine and mine alone. After seven fruitful and gratifying years as Cornell’s president — and after a career in research and academia spanning five decades — I’m ready for a new chapter in my life.”
Pollack’s departure makes her the third Ivy League president to quit the job in just the past six months. Elizabeth Magill left the University of Pennsylvania in December after telling a US congressional committee there are circumstances in which she would not punish students for clamoring for a genocide of Jews in Israel, and Claudine Gay resigned from Harvard University after being outed as a serial plagiarist by a series of investigative journalists.
The explosion of antisemitism that Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel set off on college campuses across the US has been the one constant variable in all three resignations.
“President Martha E. Pollack, who oversaw the creation of significant interdisciplinary programs, including a new school of public policy; expanded the affordability and accessibility of a Cornell education; and whose navigation of the COVID-19 pandemic made Cornell a role model for institutions around the world, will retire on June 30, after serving more than seven years as the university’s 14th president,” the university said in a statement extolling Pollack’s tenure.
Other assessments of Pollack’s presidency have been opprobrious, arguing that she implemented policies that lowered academic standards and fostered left-wing extremism and antisemitism.
“Martha Pollack was the architect of Cornell’s disastrous race-focused [diversity, equity, and inclusion] initiative that balkanized the campus and inevitably led to targeting of Jewish and pro-Israel students,” Legal Insurrection writer and Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson tweeted. “While I wish her well in her personal life, it is time for the Cornell Trustees to turn the ship around, to eliminate DEI programming as is taking place elsewhere, and to refocus the campus on the inherent dignity of each individual without regard to group identity.”
US Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) was also critical of Pollack, saying she was “slow to condemn the rampant antisemitism on Cornell’s campus and has failed to protect Jewish students from vile terrorist sympathizers.” Tenney added, “Her resignation is no surprise, as she lacks the courage to lead during these difficult times.”
Antisemitism at Cornell University has presented numerous challenges to Pollack since Oct. 7. Less than three weeks after the tragedy, a student posted on a social media a desire to murder Jewish men, rape Jewish women, and attack the campus’ kosher dining hall. Faculty have uttered extreme rhetoric too. Days earlier, history professor Russell Rickford publicly said that Hamas’ atrocities were “energizing” and “exhilarating.”
Disruptions on campus have peaked in recent weeks with the installment of an illegal “encampment” where, since April 25, pro-Hamas students have lived and protested the university’s investments in companies linked to Israel. Pollack has overseen at least four full and temporary suspensions of the protesters and issued ultimatums to those who refuse to leave, according to reports by The Cornell Daily Sun. As of Wednesday, student demonstrators remain there, along with some faculty.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Trump Announces India and Pakistan ‘Agreed to a Full and Immediate Ceasefire’

US President Donald Trump attends the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, April 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
i24 News – US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire. “Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence,” he posted on social media. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed the ceasefire, saying Saudi Arabia and Turkey also played an important role in facilitating the deal.
The ceasefire follows weeks of clashes and cross-border missile and drone strikes triggered by a gun massacre of Indian tourists last month.
New Delhi has blamed jihadists from the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist organization. Pakistan denies the charge.
Dozens of civilians have been killed on both sides.
The post Trump Announces India and Pakistan ‘Agreed to a Full and Immediate Ceasefire’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Latest Columbia Scandal Sees Over 65 Students Suspended, Including Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Daughter

Pro-Palestinian protesters are detained by NYPD after taking part in a demonstration at Butler Library on the Columbia University campus in New York, U.S., May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Dana Edwards
i24 News – In the latest antisemitism scandal at the prestigious New York institution, Columbia University suspended dozens of students and barred from campus alumni and others who took part in a chaotic and violent anti-Israel incident inside the school’s main library earlier in the week.
On May 7, the mask-clad mob forced its way into the library, injuring two public safety officers in the process. Once inside, they vandalized property, adorning the premises with Palestinian flags, scrawling “Columbia will burn” on a glass case, and declaring the library a “liberated zone.”
Some 75 protesters were arrested after refusing to comply with police directives, including Ramona Sarsgaard, daughter of Hollywood A-lister Maggie Gyllenhaal and actor Peter Sarsgaard.
The Ivy League university in Manhattan declined to say how long the disciplinary measures would be in place, saying only that the decisions are pending further investigation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said his office will review the visa status of those who participated in the library takeover for possible deportation.
The post Latest Columbia Scandal Sees Over 65 Students Suspended, Including Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Daughter first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US, Iran to Hold 4th Round of Nuclear Talks on Eve of Trump’s Gulf Tour

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – The United States and Iran will hold a fourth round of nuclear talks Sunday in Oman, officials said, just ahead of a visit to the region by President Donald Trump.
Trump, who will visit three other Gulf Arab monarchies next week, has voiced hope for reaching a deal with Tehran to curb its nuclear program that would avert an Israeli military strike on Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities that could ignite a wider war. He has refused, however, to rule out military action in the event the talks come to naught.
Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said that Oman, the mediator in the talks, had proposed Sunday as the date and both sides accepted it.
“Negotiations are moving ahead and naturally, the more we advance, the more consultations we have, and the more time the delegations need to examine the issues,” he was quoted as saying by regime media. “But what’s important is that we are moving forward so that we gradually get into the details.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s personal friend serving as his globe-trotting negotiator, will take part in the talks.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The post US, Iran to Hold 4th Round of Nuclear Talks on Eve of Trump’s Gulf Tour first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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