‘Processing wild/game animals is strictly prohibited’: Cornell updates kitchen rules after students skin bear in dorm

A dorm kitchen at Cornell University became the center of an unusual controversy after students brought a legally hunted black bear inside and butchered it in a shared cooking space. Now the university has made one thing very clear: wild game has no place in its communal kitchens.

Cornell has updated its Community Living Standards to specifically prohibit students from processing wild or game animals in shared kitchens. The change follows a September 2025 incident at Ganędagǫ: Hall that drew national attention after photos of the bear circulated online.

A university spokesperson confirmed to the Cornell Daily Sun that the new rule directly responds to the incident. “The policy aims to provide clarity regarding what is or is not appropriate” in communal kitchen spaces.

A literal black bear ended up on the shared kitchen table

On Sept. 6, two students legally hunted and killed an adult black bear in New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation Region 4. The location was roughly two hours from Cornell. They initially planned to process the animal at a friend’s home.

Aaron Chin ’27 later explained on the MeatEater Podcast that an emergency changed those plans. Worried the meat would spoil, the students brought the bear to Ganędagǫ: Hall and processed it inside the communal kitchen.

Images later showed the bear’s remains on the shared kitchen table. Other photos showed meat stored in Ziploc bags inside the dorm’s communal refrigerator. The incident sparked backlash on Reddit and Sidechat. It also led to calls for the students to face disciplinary action.

The kitchen was closed for two days after the incident. Staff from Cornell’s Building Care Department fully sanitized the space before it reopened. Sadly, concerns over treatment of animals have grabbed police attention in another case involving a kitten. 

The students did not face university disciplinary action. A New York State DEC investigation also found no code violations. The bear had been legally hunted under state regulations. Similar animal welfare concerns also surfaced at a Las Vegas rodeo, where three horses were found stabbed. 

Cornell’s updated rules now state that “processing wild/game animals in community kitchens is strictly prohibited.” The university says cooking can bring residents together. It also warns that improper food preparation can create unsafe and unsanitary conditions for others.

The new rule means future Cornell students will have little room for interpretation if they ever find themselves with a freshly hunted animal and nowhere to process it.