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He rejected to work for a Jew boss. Now he has $25,000 in donation money and Cornell did not take any action against him
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India /Culture & Society

He rejected to work for a Jew boss. Now he has $25,000 in donation money and Cornell did not take any action against him

From Times of India · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Cornell University student Austin Franco refused to work for a Jewish boss, citing his antisemitic beliefs.
  • Franco revealed that Cornell has taken no action against him and he has received $25,000 in donations following the controversy.
  • An undercover investigator from Accuracy in Media met with Franco, who expressed no remorse and doubled down on his antisemitic views.

Austin Franco, a student at Cornell University, has revealed that the institution has taken no disciplinary action against him after he refused to work for a Jewish boss. The controversy has, paradoxically, resulted in Franco receiving $25,000 in donations.

The revelation came during a meeting with an undercover investigator from Accuracy in Media, a non-profit organization. Franco admitted he was surprised by the extent of the controversy, believing he was merely being honest when stating he would not work for a Jewish individual. He claimed Cornell's inaction was due to his statements not being classifiable as hateful.

As of now they (Cornell) said thereโ€™s not anything going on on their back end. I think because I didnโ€™t say anything that could be classified as hateful. There wasnโ€™t really a leg they could go on

โ€” Austin FrancoFranco explained his understanding of why Cornell University had not taken action against him.

Franco expressed no remorse for his antisemitic stance, instead suggesting the controversy could have been avoided. Cornell University has faced criticism following the release of the undercover video. A university spokesperson reiterated Cornell's condemnation of antisemitism and confirmed the incident was referred to the Cornell Office of Civil Rights for investigation.

Reacting to the undercover reporting, Franco described the meeting as deceptive. He stated that the organization, "Justice in the Classroom," had misrepresented its intentions, initially offering support and donations before the investigator revealed their true purpose. Franco felt their approach was disingenuous.

The organization is called "Justice in the Classroom." They said they wanted to help with life after college and offer support. Mentioned providing like $5k in donations, job opportunities, etc. At the end of the meeting, Hope said she would speak with Mark, who would decide if it made sense for tax purposes for the donor to contribute. Its sad that they were being disingenuous

โ€” Austin FrancoFranco described his interaction with the undercover investigator from Accuracy in Media.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Times of India. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.