Just hours after her father’s funeral Sunday, Gov. Kathy Hochul called the President of Cornell University to talk about the terroristic threats made against Jewish students as antisemitism raged throughout the state during Israel’s war with Hamas.
“I was literally unpacking from coming back from my father’s funeral and got word of what had happened on campus,” Hochul told broadcaster Nacham Segal during an appearance on his radio show Thursday morning.
“I called the president late at night and I said, ‘Let’s have breakfast together with students.’”
Hochul first heard of her father, John Courtney’s, death from a brain hemorrhage while visiting the Western Wall on a trip to Israel after Hamas’ brutal attack.
Courtney worked as a clerk in a steel plant and was a devout Catholic.
Hochul, who frequently brings up her faith and upbringing in western New York, recently called her father a “man who had a strong sense of responsibility for others.”
Hochul said she had the same sense for the students at Cornell.
“I said, ‘I’m going to protect you.’ That’s my number one job as the governor of the state,” Hochul told Segal.
The day after her visit to the Ivy League university, 21-year-old Cornell engineering student Patrick Dai was arrested and grilled by FBI and state police investigators where he admitted he was responsible for posting messages threatening to shoot up the kosher dining hall, “rape”, and slit the throats of Jewish students.
Dai waived his right to a detention hearing in federal court Wednesday and is behind bars.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 15.