Cornell University appears to be softening its position concerning an international student who allegedly caused such a fracas at an anti-Israel protest that he was suspended and told he would have to leave the country.

Initially, Momodou Taal, a graduate student from the United Kingdom, shared that the university had informed him that he had been suspended and that his F-1 student visa would be closed without the chance to appeal the decision. Now, it seems the college is giving him a chance to fight the suspension and preserve his visa status.

“So far I am yet to receive the final confirmation of my withdrawal, which I was told would be yesterday or today. In addition, I have been informed by the university that no change will be made to my visa status and my F1 visa remains open until the appeal process has been exhausted,” he wrote on X on Wednesday evening. “This is a change in tone to where I was explicitly told my appeal would make no difference to my effective deportation, which is still the case. I am still on a temporary suspension.”

However, on Thursday morning, he provided another update and said the vice president of student and campus life, Ryan Lombardi, rejected his appeal “after one business day.” He claimed that the decision “demonstrates once again that my ability to stay in this country is being hastily handled without due process.”

Mr. Taal has the opportunity to appeal to the provost, but if that is rejected, he added, “I believe my withdrawal will be processed and I will promptly have to leave the country.” 

The New York Sun reached out to Cornell for comment on the status of his appeal but did not hear back by publication time. 

On Monday, he said the head of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, Christina Liang, told Mr. Taal he was reported to the university for his participation in a disruptive anti-Israel protest at a career fair.

The university said protesters “forced their way” into the career fair, which took place at a hotel on the campus, and engaged in “menacing behavior.” It described the protest as a “noisy demonstration” demanding that the university divest from defense companies that supply arms to Israel. 

A video of the protest showed demonstrators, some clad in keffiyehs, causing a ruckus during the career fair with pots and pans. One man was seen walking around the room, banging cymbals together. After the demonstration, there were “medical complaints of potential hearing loss,” according to Cornell. 

The email from Ms. Liang said Mr. Taal engaged in “escalating, egregious behavior and a disregard for the University policies” during the protest. He was later given an order that prevented him from entering the campus. 

He has complained that the college did not give him a chance to respond to allegations against him and claimed that no investigation had been conducted to corroborate his “egregious behavior.”

During the spring semester, Mr. Taal was suspended after helping to organize a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. His second suspension is putting his ability to stay in the country at risk if he cannot change his immigration status.

On Tuesday, he shared an email with a senior immigration advisor that said officials are required to close an F-1 visa if a student has been “suspended or discontinued from their academic program.”

“Closure of your F-1 visa record affects the student’s ability to remain or enter the U.S. in F-1 status. There is no grace period for exiting the U.S. If the student is in the U.S., then they should exit as soon as possible or work with a licensed immigration lawyer to change their immigration status to another appropriate status,” the advisor said. 

In a statement, the vice president for University Relations, Joel Melina, said, “International students attending college in the U.S. on F-1 visas are obligated to comply with federal requirements to maintain their visa status. These federal requirements include remaining enrolled as a full-time registered student. Universities are required by federal regulation to terminate the F-1 status for any student who is not permitted to be enrolled due to a disciplinary action.”

“Universities can disallow enrollment and bar a student from campus but do not have deportation powers,” Mr. Melina added.

An attorney representing Mr. Taal, Eric Lee, said in a statement the university is correct that it does not have the power to deport students. However, he claimed it is “blurring the line between academic institution and enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security.”

He also said the university “incorrectly” told his client he “must be prepared to leave the country as soon as this weekend.” According to Mr. Lee, federal laws “do not require universities to report changes to a student’s status until several weeks later.”

“Moreover, Cornell’s threats to report Mr. Taal would have deprived him of the right to a hearing and opportunity to respond to the allegations against him. This violates basic principles of due process and the presumption of innocence, to which all students, including foreign nationals, are entitled,” he added. 

Finally, Mr. Lee alleged Cornell chose to “persecute” his client for participating in the demonstration, “knowing full well that doing so will subject him to serious immigration consequences.”

Cornell is not alone in declining to suspend foreign students after rowdy or disruptive anti-Israel protests. In November 2023, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology amended its threat to suspend students who had protested in Lobby 7, the school’s primary entrance, despite the institution’s policy that protests are not allowed in that zone. 

The MIT Israel Alliance alleged that Jewish students were “physically” blocked by the protesters from getting to their classes and were made to feel the campus was “not safe for Jews.”

After the demonstration, MIT’s president, Sally Kornbluth, said the university would suspend students from “non-academic activities” instead of an academic suspension. Ms. Kornbluth said university officials were concerned an academic suspension would cause “visa issues” for foreign students.