On February 20, 2026, the University Hearing Board found graduate student Dina Ginzburg “not responsible” for disrupting the March 10, 2025, “Pathways to Peace” event in Bailey Hall.
The event involved a panel discussion among four international experts on the Israeli-Palestine relationship, including Tzipi Livni, former Foreign Minister of Israel. During the panel discussion, Ms. Ginzburg emotionally shouted a Hebrew phrase at Linvni for about 5 seconds. Unlike other demonstrators, she then quietly left the audience area of Bailey Hall without a Cornell University Police (CUPD) escort. All of this was captured on video.
As Ms. Ginzburg reached the Bailey Hall lobby, she was detained and later arrested by the CUPD. Ginzburg, along with 12 other demonstrators identified by the CUPD. The next day, President Kotlikoff issued a statement that said,
“Cornell University Police identified 17 people responsible for this unacceptable disruption. Nine students will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards for appropriate action, including the imposition of interim measures up to and including suspension. Staff members involved in the disruption will be referred for disciplinary actions through Human Resources. Outside disrupters will be issued persona non grata status, barring them from Cornell’s campus.
“Additionally, for advertising and organizing this disruption, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a student-run organization, faces suspension as a registered campus organization.”
So, it appears that the President had determined by the next morning that he would expect the Director of OSCCS to suspend the students and SJP, and that disruptors who are not students, faculty, or staff would be banned from campus. The arrested demonstrators were then brought to justice in the Tompkins County courts on April 9, 2025. The students were offered an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD). Under an ACD, if the accused was not charged with another crime during a specified time period, then all charges would be dropped without leaving behind any criminal record. Charges against three defendants were dismissed completely.
Meanwhile, a CUPD officer filed a complaint against the identified students under the Student Code in parallel with the criminal cases downtown. As a result, Ms. Ginzburg was suspended from her graduate studies on an interim basis pending a hearing. The Code Procedures require:
“Since the underlying allegation of prohibited conduct has not yet been adjudicated on the merits, a Temporary Suspension may be imposed only when available less restrictive measures are reasonably deemed insufficient to protect the Complainant or the University community. Further, the form of Temporary Suspension imposed shall be the least restrictive option that reasonably affords the necessary protections.”
Ms. Ginzburg’s advocates have repeatedly claimed that an “interim suspension” or “temporary suspension” was not justified in this case. Indeed, if Ms. Ginzburg were a danger to the community, the criminal courts would not have dropped their prosecutions.
Although OSCCS is supposed to move cases along as rapidly as possible, there was a 333-day delay between Ms. Ginzburg’s arrest and her hearing on February 6.
Ginzburg’s Hearing
The charges against Ms. Ginzburg were: Disorderly Conduct, Disruption of University Activities, and Failure to Comply with a lawful directive of a University official. The OSCCS investigator had compiled a lengthy record, including a videotape of the Pathways to Peace event. At the start of the hearing, Ms. Ginzburg’s counsel tried to introduce evidence about President Kotlikoff’s role in the handling of the demonstrators. Body cameras worn by CUPD officers in the Bailey Hall lobby had captured conversations that indicated that “Mike” wanted more than eight people arrested. This evidence was excluded by the Panel Chair (who is a full-time OSCCS employee)
No CUPD officer appeared to testify at the hearing, and the hearing recessed briefly as the panel formulated its questions.
The hearing ended, and the panel began its deliberations. Although the hearing was on Feb. 6, the decision was issued on Feb. 20. The faculty member on the panel recused herself from deciding the case, leaving three students and Anthony Condo, Jr., the Head Polo Coach, to decide whether Cornell had proven each of the three separate charges. By a 4-0 vote, the panel found Ginzburg not responsible for Disruption of University Activities and Failure to Comply, and by a 2-2 vote, the Hearing Panel found Ginzburg not responsible for Disorderly Conduct. The panel decision explained, “There was no information presented that specifically isolated the Respondent’s effect on the audience. Because those two members of the Hearing Panel could not determine [that] the Respondent’s actions caused a disruptive impact on the community, they found insufficient evidence to hold the Respondent responsible for Disorderly Conduct.”
In other words, the OSCCS built its case based upon the overall misconduct by demonstrators at the event, rather than the specific conduct of Ms. Ginzburg. Such “guilt by association” is not allowed, particularly when the accused are presumed innocent.
The panel also criticised Ms. Ginzburg’s conduct during the hearing:
“Throughout the hearing, the Respondent repeatedly made statements that were not relevant to the Panel’s task of determining responsibility. Many of [the] Respondent’s statements focused on perceived procedural concerns that were wholly unrelated to the Panel’s charge. The Panel did not find the Respondent’s approach to be a respectful use of the conduct process or the Panel’s time.”
Both parties had ten business days to appeal. Since no appeal was filed by March 6, the panel’s decision is final. Cornell has not disclosed the disposition of the other students or SJP who had been accused of disrupting the Pathways to Peace event. Nor has Cornell disclosed the length of the persona non grata ban of the three demonstrators from Ithaca. So, it is unclear whether the Pathways to Peace episode has ended for them.
Students for Justice in Palestine
The Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chose to share its disciplinary experience in an op-ed posted by the Cornell Sun. Because SJP is a group rather than an individual student, the system can find them “responsible” with just a “preponderance of the evidence” standard rather than a “clear and convincing evidence” standard. President Kotlikoff announced SJP’s suspension on March 11, 2025, and CUPD issued them a Formal Complaint on March 14, accusing SJP of violating three sections of the Code of Conduct: Collusion or Complicity, Disorderly Conduct, and Disruption of University Activities. OSCCS Director Christina Liang’s suspension letter claimed that “immediate action is necessary to protect the university community.” On March 25, SJP filed an appeal of the interim suspension with Pan Wynn, an Assistant Vice President, because Ryan Lombardi was on sabbatical leave. Wynn denied the appeal in April 2025, and SJP remained suspended even though OSCCS had not presented any evidence that SJP had violated policy.
The case then fell into a waiting game under a temporary suspension of indefinite duration. On September 3, 2025, SJP elected to go into an alternative dispute resolution. SJP agreed to seek prior OSCCS approval of all its events for the 2025-26 school year, and a semester-long ban on co-sponsoring events with other groups. SJP wrote, “Kotlikoff may have thought that suspending SJP would strike at the heart of activism on this campus, but he couldn’t have been more wrong — there have never been more students for justice in Palestine at Cornell University.”
Although there is no connection between Ms. Ginzburg and SJP, the public information from the two cases reveals the flaws in the current conduct system, including the authority to delay hearings. Although a panel hearing can vindicate a student’s rights, it cannot restore the hardship of a year-long suspension.
