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Cornell University

Office of the Assemblies

Office of Student Government Relations Town Halls

Virtual Rent Relief Town Hall, 04/29/2021 (recording)

On Thursday, April 29, 2021, the Office of Student Government Relations, an external committee of the Cornell Student Assembly, hosted “Virtual Rent Relief Town Hall” (open to Cornell and Ithaca community members). Given the enormous loss of income that has come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that New York students have access to rent relief to enable their future academic success. This town hall brings together students, community members, and legislators to discuss the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 housing crisis as well as how various proposals, such as rent cancellation and pausing evictions, can best serve to address these concerns.. Please view the video and transcripts for more information.Panelists:
  • Dr. Anna R. Kelles, New York State Assemblymember (District 125)
  • Ethan Rubin, Director, Office of Student Government Relations; Ex-Officio Member, Cornell Student Assembly
  • Lucas Smith, Director of Local Relations, Office of Student Government Relations; Chair, City and Local Affairs Committee; Undesignated Representative At-Large, Cornell Student Assembly
Questions submitted, with answers provided by panelists:
  1. How can students access the rent relief?
  2. Does the assemblymember see a generational shitf in how people view housing?

Cornell Campus Reopening Town Hall, 7/13/2020 (recording)

On Monday, July 13, 2020, the Cornell Student Assembly and the Office of Student Government Relations hosted “Cornell Reopening Community Town Hall” (open to Cornell and Ithaca community members) in order to provide a platform for students to voice concerns and questions in response to Cornell’s reopening plans. Please view the video and transcripts for more information.

Panelists include key community leaders to offer a platform for students to voice concerns and questions in response to Cornell's reopening plans.

Panelists:
  • Aadi Kulkarni, Director, Office of Student Government Relations; Ex-Officio Member, Cornell Student Assembly
  • Lucas Smith, Director of Local Relations, Office of Student Government Relations; Chair, City and Local Affairs Committee; College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Representative, Cornell Student Assembly
  • Svante Myrick '09, City of Ithaca Mayor
  • Frank Kruppa, Tompkins County Public Health Director
  • Jennifer Tavares, Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce President
  • Gary Stewart, Associate Vice President for Community Relations
Questions submitted, with answers provided by panelists:City of Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick
  • Have you received questions from Cornell students and alumni on how they can help Ithaca recover? If so, how do you response to those?
  • How can students get involved in the community? Are there boards or committees students can join to help shape the recovery of Ithaca?
  • How has it been working with the Cornell administration during the pandemic? 
  • Is the city going to be more tolerant of music and events at apartments given other social opportunities will be limited?
  • Has Ithaca Police Department changed any policies recently?
  • There seems to be mixed opinions about community members wanting students back. From your interactions, do residents want students to return?
  • Housing continues to be a big concern for Ithaca. Will Ithaca be freezing rent increases this upcoming year?
  • What will be done to prevent COVID spreading at large student parties and/or student bars? I am aware that students did not stop partying during the beginning of the outbreak in March and doubt they will stop in the fall.
  • What is the deal with the Census? Do students still need to complete it for Ithaca?
  • How does Cornell plan to financially compensate Ithaca/the Health department given the increase in costs when a second wave of COVID hits?
  • Is the TCAT running?
  • Will Ithaca crack down on social gatherings at all in Collegetown or is there any way to enforce that beyond disciplinary action through Cornell?
  • IS there a way that students can help support the mayor's office during this time?
  • How can students find and understand their tenant rights in these times? Are there any new guidelines that landlords should be expected to follow but students may not know about?
  • How is public transport going to work? Most students don't have cars, so what is Tompkins County planning to do about potentially increased ridership?

Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Tavares

  • Have many businesses shut down since mid-March? Any of them permanently?
  • What message do you have for students on the importance of buying and shopping locally?
  • Will the Chamber be working with Cornell to make businesses more accessible to students?
  • Has there been discussions to bring any community businesses on to the campus?
  • Are local restaurants going to be partnering with Cornell to provide to-go meals as an alternative to dining hall meals?
  • With concerns about controlling density, are any businesses going to be offering student only hours?
  • Can we expect any student deals from businesses given that many families have been hit hard financially by the crisis?
  • Is there still demand for student employees in the community? I depend on my job in the community to support my academics.
  • I noticed that when we were closing down in March, many undergraduate students flooded bars in Collegetown, thus increasing risk of transmission in our area. How do you plan to still help these businesses economically while minimizing the amount of undergrads in an area to reduce cases?
  • Could you please clarify whether grocery stores, shops, etc have the right and responsibility to require all individuals to wear masks (correctly!) when 6 feet social distancing is not possible? Individuals have been stating that due to health concerns they are not required to wear masks. Can't a store provide a reasonable accomodation (personal shopper, online shopping with delivery or pick up) for the 3% of population that truly has respiratory problems? Isn't this the right approach to protect their own employees and the public?
  • How is Cornell planning to support local businesses (financially or otherwise)?

Tompkins County Public Health Director Frank Kruppa

  • How many people will be able to gather at an event? Indoors or outdoors.
  • Before the pandemic struck, what were the Health Department’s day-to-day connections with Cornell?
  • There are some predictions that a substantial spike in COVID positives will result when students return. Is there any data that substantiate that claim?
  • My daughter is an incoming freshman coming from California. NY is requiring a 14 day self-quarantine for visitors from CA. Please elaborate what that would mean for her. Does she need to self-quarantine before she arrives to CU? Will there be a quarantine residence for students like her who are asymptomatic but just needing to quarantine to follow NY's rules? We are considering quarantining in Maine (which is not considered a high risk state) for 14 days prior to move-in as they are less restrictive if you arrive with a neg. Covid test. If we can prove we've been out of CA and in Maine for 14 days prior to arrival- would that satisfy NY and CU's restrictions?
  • How will social events be monitored and policed by the community?
  • What is Tompkins County’s plan for those students coming from states with mandatory quarantine orders?
  • Cornell has discussed various options for students like me, who are from states included on Governor Cuomo’s list of states whose residents must quarantine for 14 days in order to come to New York. One of those options would be to quarantine before coming to New York. Is this a viable option to abide by health standards?
  • Please provide more information regarding whether and how Cornell, Ithaca and the surrounding community will increase the number of medical care providers and expand facilities to support the need for care should there be a need for more support than current systems can provide. Are there plans to increase number of ICU beds? Will additional medical personnel be brought in to the community?
  • How is the Tompkins County Health Dept preparing for the incoming wave of students (i.e. number of test kits, testing locations, increase need for hospital beds, etc.)?
  • Will there be a testing site in Collegetown for students to get tested as they come back to Ithaca in July and August, even if they don't have symptoms? It would be great if students who are going to parties and nightclubs could at least get tested regularly before the semester starts. Many students do not have access to cars and therefore can't use the drive-through testing site; also the drive-through site requires a reason for a test.
  • How will the NYS mandated 14 day quarantine apply to students coming from restricted states?
  • What will be done to prevent COVID spreading at large student parties and/or student bars? I am aware that students did not stop partying during the beginning of the outbreak in March and doubt they will stop in the fall.
  • Will all students be required to document personal travel in and out of Ithaca? What if you currently reside outside of Ithaca?
  • Will Tompkins County be working with Cornell to develop a daily update dashboard similar to what the County currently has?
  • The current non-nasopharyngeal tests approved by the FDA have a pretty high false negative rate of 15-20%. Are they expecting to get better ones by the time school starts?
  • With COVID cases spiking everywhere, how will you monitor the students behavior, especially in Collegetown?
  • Most Cornell students will likely follow COVID-19 rules, but if a few do not and do not cooperate while outside of campus, how will the city enforce the recommendations for containing the virus' spread in Tompkins County? Especially as a senior citizen, I am concerned about this.?
  • Is widespread, frequent testing feasible and will it be enough to control and prevent COVID-19 cases?
  • What was the cost-benefit analysis/trade-off you were willing to wager with allowing undergraduates to return to campus?
  • Will the progress to Phase 4 be reversed (as a precaution) when students return in the fall? Or will that depend on any new cases of covid-19?
  • What are the ruls for getting tested for COVID before & after traveling to campus? Will we have to submit our test results to Cornell in any way?
  • Is there a mask mandate in Tompkins County?
  • How available is coronavirus testing in Tompkins County & what's the turnaround for results?
  • How can you reassure county residents like me that the county is prepared to deal with the likely sharp increases in positive cases that will occur once the colleges reopen? Many residents are fearful that we are in a protected bubble right now and all hell will break loose once the colleges reopen.
  • Are students expected to quarantine for 14 days every time they leave Tompkins County and need to come back to campus? Or can they just take a COVID test?
  • Did you base the number of contact people based on the population including students?
  • If we are coming from California or other high case states, what will the protocol be regarding quarantine?
  • I've read about testing in the Daily Sun and many reports. Will students need to be tested every 5 days?
  • What will students coming from states with quarantine orders have to do when arriving at Cornell?
  • If we are required to be in quarantine, where will students and family be housed?

Cornell-centric questions/feedback

  • When will the Statler Hotel be opening?
  • Cornell's reopening model predicts taht 9,000 students would return to Itahca if Cornell conducted classes virtually. This is, at the very least, a bold assumptin. Numbers that look like this give the impression that Cornell might be looking for a studey that shows them what they want to see, rather than what's best for their community. How can we be sure Cornell's reopening isn't profit-driven?
  • How is Cornell going to enforce their procedures of testing, wearing masks, and social distancing, not only on campus and in the community?
  • Who is going to deal with the fall-out from this from students, faculty, staff and parents across all three higher education institutions?
  • A few questions about the students and the community: Who will police the wearing of masks? Who will monitor the results of the virus testing and notify the community when citizens become ill? Where are the facilities for students, and families of students, to self-quarantine when a person becomes ill? Will the colleges take financial responsibility for the cost of health care and support for community members who become ill? What about the impact upon communities like Auburn, Binghamton, and Watkins Glen, when those who commute from their jobs at the colleges bring the virus back to their hometowns and families?
  • Please describe what a student being placed in isolation/quarantine at Cornell would experience.
  • Are Cornell and IC planning to house COVID positive students in hotels in downtown Ithaca? How will the larger Ithaca community and other downtown businesses be protected? 20-year old asymptomatic infectious people might be inclined not to stay in a hotel room for 14 days. If hotels are going to be used, will the Statler be used and hotels that are more isolated, not in the center of the city?
  • There have been several of these forums now and this BIG question about housing infectious students in downtown Ithaca hotels has not been answered in a specific way. Is the plan to turn downtown Ithaca hotels into COVID wards? Cornell has said they will house students in hotels but didn't say where. What is the projected number of infections?
  • As a community member who has been very vocal about my concerns, I'm interested to know how the university is planning to protect the students in this situation, as has not been our experience with their responses to Slope Day.
  • How will those students who are not behaving appropriately be curtailed so that they are not harming other students, staff, faculty, community members and this agreement?
  • What modification needs to be made (perhaps on the state level) so Cornell and IC public safety officers coudl be involved in off campus educating and enforcement?