On December 15, 2022, about three months after the opening of a criminal investigation, Cornell University’s Deputy Provost and Presidential Advisor for Diversity and Equity sent an email to all students, faculty, and staff of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP). The victim, Dr. Samia Henni, was neither informed about that email, nor offered the possibility to read it and comment on it before it was sent to AAP. The email imposed an entirely new and a completely improbable narrative of the crime, omitting critical details and misrepresenting a few particulars.
Cornell University’s Deputy Provost and Presidential Advisor for Diversity and Equity announced that Cornell University Police’s investigation is closed, claiming that the shelf in Dr. Henni’s office was improperly installed, and therefore, her books, folders, and items were found on the desk and floor. This is a dangerous explanation of the unresolved crime as it endangers the life of Dr. Henni and many others. This imposed narrative must immediately respond to the following questions.
How come that:
The shelf was still up on the wall whereas the books and folders were scattered on the desk and floor?
Books and folders were found far from the shelf? (Gravity alone could not have caused the books and folders to fall the way they did).
The window in Dr. Henni’s office was found wide open? Why was this detail omitted from the narrative?
Some of Dr. Henni’s documents and items have been stolen from her office?
This sudden narrative contradicts the previous ones?
Needless to say that it took Cornell’s Police and Cornell University three months to come up with this improbable and dangerous narrative. The Committee call on Cornell University to apologize to Dr. Henni for silencing her voice, correct and review the dangerous narrative, answer the questions above, and reopen the investigation immediately.
Committee to Defend Academic Freedom and Safety - The Case of Dr. Samia Henni at Cornell University 