After two Cornell University students skinned a black bear in a communal dorm kitchen last year to make pastrami, the school has changed its rules. The incident, which drew widespread attention, prompted the university to ban the processing of wild game in residential kitchens. The students had reportedly harvested the bear legally during a hunting trip but then brought it into the dorm to prepare the meal.

The university’s revised policy now explicitly prohibits the skinning, gutting, or butchering of any wild animals in dormitory facilities. Officials said the change was made to ensure health and safety standards and to prevent future incidents. The rule applies to all on-campus housing, including graduate and undergraduate dorms.

The Cornell University administration emphasized that while hunting is permitted off-campus, processing game in shared living spaces violates sanitation guidelines. The two students involved were not identified, and no disciplinary action was reported. The black bear processed in the communal kitchen last year has become a symbol of the unusual event.

The new policy reinforces that dorm kitchens are for cooking, not for field dressing game.