Cornell University has agreed to end disciplinary proceedings against Dr. Eric Cheyfitz—an 84-year-old professor of American studies who was battling a discrimination case that sparked concerns over academic freedom—in exchange for his retirement after a paid leave through June 2026, according to a copy of the deal reviewed by The Nation… An excerpt of the agreement, signed on October 7 by Cheyfitz and College of Arts and Sciences dean Peter John Loewen, reads, “Cornell will announce that Professor Cheyfitz has decided to retire, stating: ‘Professor Cheyfitz has decided to retire and this matter is concluded.’”
Not at all disingenuous. 🙄
Cheyfitz acknowledged that he had asked the graduate student to quit the course in a conversation in late January but denied it had anything to do with the student’s Israeli identity. The graduate student recorded that exchange and used it as evidence in a discrimination complaint. Cheyfitz said he had not been told that he was being recorded. The graduate student, Oren Renard, a PhD candidate in computer science whose identity was confirmed by other students in the class, once served in Unit 8200, the Israeli military’s equivalent to America’s National Security Agency, according to an archived copy of his LinkedIn profile. (He has since removed the references to the unit from his profile.) Luna Droubi, Cheyfitz’s lawyer, said that Cheyfitz was acting to protect others in the class who had come to him with concerns that Renard appeared to be surreptitiously recording them during discussions, possibly to “gather their names and comments” and intimidate them. Cheyfitz also claimed that Renard often came to class unprepared and argumentative. It is unclear exactly what Cheyfitz told Renard. Renard, who has not been charged by the university with wrongdoing, did not answer an e-mailed list of questions for this story, including a request to share the audio. Droubi argued that any reference to Israel during the exchange was made in the context of political views, not identity. In an October 11 letter to the editor published in The Cornell Daily Sun, nine of Renard’s peers in the course wrote that many of them had “approached Professor Cheyfitz with fears that we were being recorded with the intention of doxxing us later” and that “it was immediately clear that [Renard] had come to disrupt.”
Surprise 🫢
Cheyfitz might no longer teach classes at Cornell, but he said that because of fresh attention brought by the case, he has already fielded invitations for speaking engagements at other universities. “I got invited by the students at University of Virginia Law School to come and talk about the case,” Cheyfitz said. “This is not going away. I mean, I’m a good example,” Cheyfitz added. “The way this case has been handled is a good example of throwing due process, academic freedom, and faculty governance under the bus.”
Professor Cheyfitz honestly made the best decision possible, and Cornell administration are cowards and liars.
