On June 23, Sriram Parasurama, a Cornell graduate student, was provided a public hearing before a five-person panel regarding his conduct at a protest last year. The protest took place at the Statler Hall, where Parasurama and others demonstrated against certain weapon manufacturers recruiting at an ILR job fair.
The demonstration occurred on September 18, 2024. The Cornell Police subsequently arrested Atakan Deviren ’27, Yihun Stith ’26 and graduate student Sriram Parasurama on October 9. The Tompkins County District Attorney charged them in the downtown courts on November 6. Deviren’s case has been dropped due to a lack of specific references to him in filed court documents and in police accounts of the demonstration. Stith and Parasurama have both been issued an Adjournment Contemplating Dismissal (ACD).
By agreeing to an ACD, the criminal case against Parasurama was dismissed after 6 months, without any criminal record or community service, provided he did not violate the law during that period.
Despite the ACD resolution, the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (OSCCS), headed by Christina Liang, continued to pursue a case under the Student Code of Conduct. Liang reports to Dean of Students Marla Love.
Interim Suspension
Christina Liang and Marla Love
In addition, Liang imposed an “interim suspension pending a hearing” so that Parasurama could not enter campus, work as a graduate student, or benefit from his NSF fellowship while the hearing could be held. This suspension has, thus far, lasted for eight months.
According to the Student Code Procedures,
“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.”
The advocates for Parasurama claim that these standards were not properly applied in his case and that less restrictive measures could have been used.
As to the eight month length of the interim suspension, the procedures require that OSCCS must complete the investigation expeditiously so as to hold hearings promptly:
“The investigation will be completed as expeditiously as possible, commensurate with its complexity.”
Many critics observed that OSCCS appears to move very slowly in holding hearings. As the recent task force appointed by outgoing President Martha Pollack on Expressive Activity noted,
“The committee heard disturbing accounts of severe temporary suspensions being issued to students for non-violent conduct, without adequate due process.”
Accordingly, the recommendations included:
“The committee is concerned that the purposes of temporary suspension can become blurred between two rationales: (1) non-punitive protection of other community members from imminent harms or avoidance of substantial property damage, and (2) coercive discipline used to deter, retaliate, or compel immediate compliance with Cornell policies. The committee has concerns about temporary suspensions being used punitively. We recommend that Cornell make clear that the primary purpose of a temporary suspension is protective and not punitive, that it may be imposed only when immediate action is required for the protection of others or to avoid substantial property damage, and that it ceases when the risk of harm has ceased.”
Because of these concerns, the University Assembly (UA) on April 8, 2025 adopted Resolution No. 4, which calls for the UA to conduct “an annual review process for disclosure of disciplinary and equity data as a consequence of Expressive Activity.” An objective review of the timing of cases could determine whether they are being processed expeditiously and not slowed down to create punitive “interim” suspensions.
On February 14, about 100 protestors demonstrated outside Mann Library to oppose Parasurama’s interim suspension. At the rally, Government Professor Begüm Adalett, called the interim suspension “draconian” and “without due process.” She also further criticized the University for “not protecting” its students.
On March 15, Parasurama, Cornell faculty member Mũkoma Wa Ngũgĩ, and Cornell graduate student Momodou Taal, filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration alleging a violation of their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit was later dropped.
Prehearing Rally
The Coalition for Mutual Liberation (CML) called for an in-person demonstration to be held at Day Hall at 10 a.m. before the 11 a.m. start of the hearing. In addition, CML posted on Instagram urging the public to watch the hearing on Zoom. Zoom attendees were required to pre-register, the audience was limited to just students, faculty and staff. OSCCS did not announce an audience size.
The Zoom Hearing
Student Code hearings are conducted by five-person panels randomly selected from a larger group of University Hearing Board members. A panel is supposed to include 3 students, one faculty and one staff. Three votes are required to find a student “responsible” for a violation, and the panel gets to select the penalty to be imposed for each violation.
The panel members at this hearing were: Maria Wolfe, a senior lecturer of management communication at the Hotel School; Davis Upchurch. Graduate Student, School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section; Sebastian Young ’26, an undergraduate student and Language Resource Center Student Assistant; Fatoumata Conde, a student in Human Ecology;
and Jennifer Michael, Senior Director of Student Experience, Admissions and Student Services in AAP..
The procedures call for a “complainant” to be designated, but the identity of the complainant was not made clear during the Zoom hearing. Previous press reports indicated that a faculty member had filed a formal complaint with OSCCS holding CML as an organization collectively responsible for the Sept. 18 alleged misconduct, but OSCCS only went forward with cases against a few individuals rather than CML as an organization.
There were three witnesses: Brandon Frisbie (a Cornell police officer), Arthur Keith (the manager of the Statler), and Finn West (one of the student protestors).
Observers found Finn West, who testified for Siriam Parasurama, to be the strongest witness. At least one observer felt that the balance of the testimony and evidence favored Parasurama.
Alex Strohl, who represented Parasurama, suggested that a “warning” could serve as an “off ramp” for the panel if they do decide to find Parasurama responsible for one of the counts.
Under the rules, the panel must presume that Parasurama is innocent. The panel can only impose a penalty if it finds “clear and convincing evidence” that the Student Code was violated.
The hearing started at 11 a.m. and lasted four hours.
Frequently, hearing panels meet privately at the conclusion of the hearing and promptly take a vote. However, in a recent case, OSCCS waited a week after the panel vote to announce the result. It appears that the interim suspension will continue until the vote is announced.
As Cornell continues to handle the fallout of recent campus unrest, Cornell’s conduct process continues to prove the difficulty of upholding free speech while Day Hall seeks to limit protests.
