Didn’t take the Ivy League for a group of bear hunters, but I’m happy to stand corrected.
If you’re anything like me, your college nutrition was far from optimal. We’re talking chips, snacks, mac and cheese, and of course, instant ramen noodles. You can go to the cafeteria, but is that much better? It’s more or less fast-food quality, no better than your average shopping mall food court. You’d think after all that money I gave DePaul University, they’d spend it on better food…
Of course, most dorm buildings have a full kitchen on each floor, but your average student isn’t exactly whipping up gourmet meals. I mean, they don’t call it the “Freshman 15” for nothing…
But last hunting season, two Cornell students were doing their best to fill up their freezer with some tasty and nutritious wild game… black bear, to be specific, and it caused quite the uproar in their dormitory.
According to the Cornell Daily Sun, two students legally harvested the black bear in New York, and en route to a friend’s place to process the bear, they ran into an issue. Not wanting the meat to spoil, they took it to the kitchen at their dorm, and you can already imagine how that went over with some of the other students at the Ivy League school… not well.
Believe it or not, the police were called…
Most of the backlash, however, was from people who weren’t actually there. The student, Aaron Chin, told MeatEater’s Steve Rinella that most of the students who walked by were intrigued, and some even wanted to try some of the meat (they were hoping to make some bear pastrami).
Pictures were shared all over social media, with many speculating that the bear was too small to hunt, that the hunt was illegal, that the students should be suspended… a bunch of other nonsense you’d expect from Cornell. Although to be fair, Cornell is located in Ithaca, New York, which is prime landscape for any outdoorsman… hunting, fishing, hiking, whatever you’re into, you can find in that part of New York.
Ultimately, the hunt was completely legal and the students faced no discipline; however, the kitchen was temporarily closed for cleaning.
But with the new school year quickly approaching, as well as hunting season, a hilarious addition has been made to the student housing handbook. According to the updated student housing handbook for the 2026/2027 school year, students will not be able to process wild game in the communal kitchens.
The rule states:
“Shared kitchens must be kept in a clean and sanitary condition… processing wild/game animals in community kitchens is strictly prohibited.”
Hilarious… but at least the rules are clear now. You’d like to see a university that is willing to foster a culture of hunting, conservation, and outdoorsmanship, but you understand why the university doesn’t want the headache. Chin said that a number of people, as well as other student orgs, reached out and offered a place to process future harvests, so it won’t be an issue going forward.
The hunter actually detailed the entire situation on this episode of the MeatEater Podcast with Steve Rinella.
