A nepo baby, Vladimir Potemkin, great grandson of Russian Field Marshal Grigory Potemkin has been chosen to design the Cornell University Center for Combatting Antisemitism. Vladimir got his degree in Architecture from the Cornell University School of Architecture in Doha, Qatar.

A ground-breaking dedication ceremony for the Center for Combatting Antisemitism will take place on October 7, 2025, on University Ave. next to the Steven K. and Winifred A. Grinspoon Hillel Center for Jewish Community at Cornell.

Although not yet confirmed, the Babbling Bear is exhilarated and energized by the possibility that Associate Professor Russell Rickford will be named as the Center’s first director.

The new Center will primarily combat antisemitism by forbidding Islamophobic speech that criticizes Qatar.