Cornell anti‑Semitism student case

In late July 2026, reports focused on Austin Franco, a Cornell University student who had gone viral in 2023 after refusing a summer internship with Jewish founders and declaring he was “not interested in working for a Jew.” Cornell’s Office of Civil Rights investigated the incident, and the university stated it had taken no disciplinary action. Franco announced that he was returning to campus for the fall semester, prompting condemnation of anti‑Semitism from Jewish students and faculty and highlighting a $25,000 donation linked to the controversy.

Two days later, coverage reiterated that Franco remained enrolled and that the university’s advocacy office had reached out to him, though no formal sanction had been imposed. Franco defended his remarks on a television interview, invoking Nick Fuentes’s “America First” ideology. The Einhorn brothers, whose startup offer Franco declined, expressed shock, and observers noted broader concerns about antisemitism on campus.