In a tense altercation following a debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Cornell University’s president reportedly ran over one student’s foot and injured another in a parking lot incident.
Security footage from last Thursday captured a group of students encircling Michael Kotlikoff’s black Cadillac, attempting to prevent him from driving away.
The video, released by the university, shows Kotlikoff reversing his SUV to exit the parking spot, only to come to a sudden halt.
Despite the crowd of students still around his vehicle, he proceeded with his maneuver.
As Kotlikoff’s car moved forward, a woman stood in front of his vehicle but stepped out of the way as he approached.
Meanwhile, another student, recording the incident, positioned himself in front of the vehicle, obstructing Kotlikoff’s efforts to leave the Ithaca, New York, campus.
Kotlikoff, who has been president of Cornell since March 2025, has been accused of injuring two students, the group Students for a Democratic Cornell wrote on Instagram.
“When we tried to discuss campus speech policies, he hit us with his car,” the group alleged.
“Kotlikoff’s violent response to student inquiry is just another example of his administration’s repressive crackdown on student speech.”
Video obtained by Cornellians Only showed one student being hit by Kotlikoff’s car as he was reversing.
“Oh! He just ran over my f–king foot! Oh my God!” Students for a Democratic Cornell member Aiden Vallecillo yelped.
On Friday, Kotlikoff said he was “accosted by a group of several individuals” as he tried to leave the event which was hosted by the Cornell Political Union and co-sponsored by Cornell Progressives, Cornellians for Israel, and Students for Justice in Palestine.
“These individuals are known to Cornell for their past conduct, including a long history of ongoing verbal and online abuse toward numerous members of Cornell’s administration and staff, as well as disruptive protest resulting, in the case of two individuals, in bans from campus,” he said.
“These individuals followed me from the event space and across campus, while loudly shouting questions and recording on their phones.
“After answering a few questions, I let them know that I was not planning to engage further, and asked them to stop recording.
“Their response to this was, ‘No, we are not going to stop.’ They continued to follow me to my car and then surrounded the car, banging on the windows, blocking the car, and shouting.
“I waited until I saw space behind the car and then, using my car’s rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, was able to slowly maneuver my car from the parking space and exit the parking lot.”
He went on to say, “The behavior I experienced last night is not protest. It is harassment and intimidation, with the direct motive of silencing speech. It has no place in an academic community, no place in a democracy, and can have no place at Cornell.”
Hudson Athas, who is also a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell, disputed Kotlikoff’s claims.
“We weren’t all shouting at him — it was mostly one person who was talking with him and just trying to have a conversation,” Athas told the Cornell Sun.
Last April, the Trump administration suspended more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell University while the government investigated alleged civil rights violations.
The federal government warned university bosses it could bring law enforcement actions if a review determined it had failed to stop antisemitism.
The Trump administration has cracked down on pro-Palestinian campus protests, labeling the demonstrators antisemitic.
In November, Cornell struck an agreement with the government that would restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
The institution agreed to pay more than $30 million to the government, and invest an additional $30 million into its agriculture and farming efficiency programs, for which it’s known.
