Help Create a Community Slope Day
Donation protected
13 days after announcing Kehlani as the 2025 Slope Day Headliner, Cornell University and President Michael Kotlikoff rescinded her invitation to perform. Today, we are raising these funds to create a grassroots, Community Slope Day for the students and Ithacans who felt represented by her presence. All donations to this fund will go towards an alternative live performance and other logistical support. Any contribution will be refundable up to 97% (excluding GoFundMe deductions). Any unclaimed and unused funds will be donated to help the people of Palestine.
Kehlani’s disinvitation was justified as a response to her injecting "division and discord into Slope Day." Kotlikoff claims this division was generated by her "anti-semitic, anti-Israel sentiments." This is the same Cornell administration that welcomed characters like Ann Coulter, Ben Shapiro, and Mike Knowles: people synonymous with anti-LGBTQ, anti-Black, and anti-woman sentiments. Cornell has a healthy population of students who feel Kehlani’s identity as a queer woman of color represented them better than the speakers our administration defends. Those students, and their corresponding student organizations, are banding together to imagine a new Slope Day.
This Slope Day will represent inclusion, equity, and freedom of speech. This performance may not necessarily be Kehlani or an explicitly pro-Palestine artist, but at least a musician who recognizes all voices at Cornell. If we can hit our fundraising goal by April 30, we will confirm the new artist. You will not have to be a Cornell student to attend and enjoy the performance. If you have any funds to spare and recognize what Cornell students have been fighting for years, please consider donating to this GoFundMe. We will update as this effort continues.
Are you a registered student organization that is contributing to this effort? Please fill out the following form, and we will update this description with your credit and official statement.
Organizer
Thato Buckley
Organizer
Ithaca, NY