Signs: Cornell Students Eat Bear In Dorm, University Reacts Swiftly

Cornell changed its residential rules after two students brought a legally hunted black bear into a dorm and butchered it in a communal kitchen.

It has been a while since we had a good “Signs The World Is Coming To An End.” That changes right now.

Aaron Chin, whoever and wherever you are bud, have changed everything. Now, people cannot eat and process bear in the dorms! It seems like Chin and a friend hunted black bear and brought the body back to Cornell University. They decided the dorms could double as wilderness butcher shops.

I cannot believe I just wrote that sentence.

Back in September 2025, Chin and another Cornell undergraduate went hunting in New York and legally killed a black bear weighing roughly 120 pounds. So, this is not a big grizzly, but, if you are like me, you think of Smokey. Who wants to merk a bear? Chin! The duo reportedly had the proper hunting licenses, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation determined the bear was taken legally during hunting season. So what’s the issue?

Then they brought the bear to Ganędagǫ Hall on the campus of Cornell.

Instead of processing the animal at a hunting camp – normal behavior. How about a private home? Nope, the students skinned and butchered the bear inside a communal kitchen in the undergraduate residence hall.

Imagine walking downstairs to make some ramen and somebody is turning Yogi The Bear into pastrami.

Now, that I think about it – it may have been “Boo-Boo,” not Yogi!

Another student complained, Cornell University Police got involved and the kitchen was temporarily shut down. A DEC investigator also checked out the situation, but apparently there was no violation of state wildlife law and no charges were filed.

Chin later explained that the original plan was to process the animal at a friend’s house roughly two hours away. An emergency reportedly changed those plans. According to Chin, they searched Cornell’s policies and could not find a rule explicitly saying they could not process the bear in the dorm kitchen.

Technically correct can be a very dangerous phrase.

Now Cornell has closed that particular loophole. In 2026, the university added language to its residential policies explicitly prohibiting the processing of wild or game animals in community kitchens. Cornell reportedly confirmed the change was made because of the bear episode.

But wait.

Cornell’s unofficial mascot is a bear. No respect!

The tradition goes back to 1915, when the university had an actual black bear cub named Touchdown serving as a football mascot.