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Upcoming spring concert funded by hundreds of thousands in mandatory student fees will feature singer Kehlani, who has endorsed “intifada” and said bluntly, “It’s f— Israel, it’s f— Zionism.”
By Jessica Schwalb, The Washington Free Beacon
Pro-Israel students at Cornell University are up in arms over an upcoming spring concert funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars in mandatory student fees featuring the singer Kehlani, who has endorsed “intifada” and said bluntly, “It’s f— Israel, it’s f— Zionism.”
Kehlani is slated to headline Cornell’s Slope Day, scheduled for May 7, an annual concert that marks the end of the school year. The university announced the event in a statement touting the “multi-Grammy Award-nominated R&B artist.” It did not initially acknowledge the controversy her appearance has kicked up, though university president Michael Kotlikoff said last week that the artist will not make political statements and will forfeit her fee if she does so.
Kehlani, whose anti-Israel activism has garnered national headlines, posted a series of Instagram videos last May in which she said she had lost “any ounce of f—ing respect” for musical artists who did not publicly condemn Israel and its war on Hamas.
“It’s f— Israel, it’s f— Zionism, and it’s also f— a lot of y’all too,” she said. Days later, she released the music video for her single “Next 2 U,” which opened with a graphic reading, “Long live the intifada,” a reference to violent periods in which Palestinians targeted Jewish civilians in terror attacks. She’s made similar statements in Instagram posts reading, “DISMANTLE ISRAEL. ERADICATE ZIONISM,” “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” “Long live resistance in all of its forms,” and, “No one should feel comfortable or safe until Zionism is extinguished.”
The selection of Kehlani as the concert’s headliner has prompted pushback from Cornell’s pro-Israel community. The singer’s statements “go far beyond political critique” and target the “vast majority of Jews” at Cornell that consider themselves Zionists, Cornellians for Israel wrote in a petition calling for the university to choose a new headliner.
“The fact that the university would allow for students to bring in a performer with views that actively call for violence to an event where she is supposed to represent all students makes me feel like I am not a respected member of this community,” the petition reads.
The controversy comes as Cornell grapples with a $1 billion federal funding freeze over its response to campus anti-Semitism. The university faced criticism, for example, when it suspended an international graduate student who led illegal campus protests and lauded the “armed resistance in Palestine” but allowed the student, Momodu Taal to continue his studies online, a move that prevented the automatic revocation of his student visa. The Trump administration revoked Taal’s visa months later and he self-deported in late March.
Some Cornell parents say the decision to bring Kehlani to campus is an unforced error as the university looks to restore its relationship with the federal government. “Given the threatened loss of $1 billion for anti-Semitism, who at Cornell thought it would be a good idea to hire Kehlani for Slope Day,” one wrote in a private Facebook group.
Kotlikoff, the Cornell president, acknowledged concerns over Kehlani’s statements during a Student Assembly meeting last Thursday but said it was “too late to secure another performer that will be acceptable or appropriate for Slope Day.” The university was not aware of Kehlani’s statements when it began negotiations with her in October, Kotlikoff said. It altered the artist’s contract when it became privy to those statements “roughly three weeks ago.”
“We also altered that contract to make it clear that if there are any political events at the performance, there is full forfeit of the whole compensation,” he said.
Historically, that compensation has been substantial. Cornell’s Slope Day, originally known as “Spring Day,” first took place in 1902. Each year, thousands of students take to Ho Plaza on the last day of spring classes for a concert that often features A-list artists. Past headliners include rappers Snoop Dogg, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar.
The concert is funded through Cornell’s Student Activities Fee, which is mandatory for all undergraduates. That fee was $384 per student for the 2024-25 school year and will rise to $424 next year, and undergraduates cannot opt out of paying it.
As of now, $50 per student goes specifically to Slope Day, according to a Student Assembly resolution, generating a budget of roughly three quarters of a million dollars. It’s a substantial increase from the 2022-23 school year, during which Slope Day operated under a budget of $315,000. Students later complained of underwhelming headliners, prompting the funding increase.
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