ITHACA, N.Y. — Climate protesters demonstrated on Cornell University’s campus on Friday morning to demand its Board of Trustees and the Cornell University Council accelerate the pace of their climate action.
The protesters encouraged trustees to heed the call of a board member who recently aired his frustration over the inadequate response to the climate crisis.
Cornell trustee and veteran meteorologist John Morales went viral two weeks ago for tearing up on live television while sharing the devastating forecast for Hurricane Milton, which became one of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record before it weakened and made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Oct. 9.
After the clip went viral, Morales went on social media to clarify that his tears were caused by the hurricane’s rapid intensification, attributing it to global warming. In his X post, he demanded immediate climate action. Since then, several media outlets have written stories about the emotional meteorologist, but after leaving the board of trustees meeting, he declined The Ithaca Voice’s request for comment.
About a dozen protestors affiliated with multiple organizations gathered in front of Cornell’s Uris Hall and marched toward the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium where trustees and council members were meeting. One protester held a sign that read “Trust Trustee Morales.”
Protestors criticized Cornell for its affiliation with fossil fuel industries. Cornell, alongside other elite universities like Princeton and Columbia, have recently come under fire from climate activists for bringing in millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests, according to a series of student-led reports released in September.
“We hope that in this moment, and we very much encourage in this moment the rest of the board to take heed of what John Morales is saying,” said Leila Wilmers, a Cornell on Fire organizer.
As the rest of the university trustees and council members walked out of the auditorium, they were greeted by a display of free merchandise that read, “Save the Oceans.” Some lingered outside the auditorium, while others walked toward the building’s exit, where protesters waited for them to the tune of Bob Dylan’s, “The Times They are A-Changin’” playing on repeat.
Maddelyn Rhodes, a Cornell student of biology and environment sustainability and one of the four students that put together the report on Cornell’s ties to fossil fuel interests, handed trustees and council members a pamphlet with bold letters that read “extraordinary times call for extraordinary leadership.”
The pamphlets promoted reports prepared by different advocacy organizations highlighting the impacts of the climate crisis, and what they argued Cornell’s role in it is.
Rhodes, who worked on the donor spotlight section of a report by Fossil Free Cornell, found that 10 grantmakers with deep ties to the fossil fuel industry have donated almost 9% of the nearly $3 billion in donations over the past 10 years.
Protestors also drew connections between climate change and military conflicts. After leaving the area of Uris Hall, climate advocates went over to Ho Plaza for their second protest of the day to advocate that Cornell end any financial and professional relationship it has with weapons manufacturers supplying Israel in its ongoing assault in Gaza.
“Militarism generally is a huge factor in the climate crisis too. So, wars are always climate bombs going off,” said Todd Sadler, one of the protesters that attended both actions.
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