Cornell Students Allege University President Struck Them with Vehicle Following Campus Israel-Palestine Event

Cornell University’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, has recently come forward to describe feeling subjected to “harassment and intimidation” after being accused of hitting individuals with his vehicle during a tense confrontation in a campus parking lot. The dispute centered around a contentious debate over students’ freedom of speech.

The confrontation occurred on April 30, shortly after Kotlikoff had introduced an Israel-Palestinian debate series. This event was organized by the Cornell Political Union and co-sponsored by Cornellians for Israel, Cornell Progressives, and Students for Justice in Palestine, as Kotlikoff detailed in a formal statement.

According to Kotlikoff, as he made his way to his car, he was pursued by a group of individuals, comprised of both students and outsiders. These individuals, Kotlikoff noted, were already “known to Cornell for their past conduct,” which included a history of verbal and online harassment directed at various university administrators and staff members.

This group also included two people who were previously barred from campus due to their involvement in a “disruptive protest,” Kotlikoff added.

“These individuals tailed me from the debate event, shouting questions and recording me with their phones,” Kotlikoff recounted. “After responding to some inquiries, I informed them that I would not continue the conversation and requested they cease recording.”

“Their response to this was, ‘No, we are not going to stop,’” he claimed. “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.”

However, Aiden Vallecillo, a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell (SDC), told WSYR the students were trying to peacefully question Kotlikoff before the university president escalated the situation. 

“We saw the president in the hallway and started to ask him questions about the repression of free speech on campus,” Vallecillo reportedly said. 

Video released by the university shows Kotlikoff’s black Cadillac backing out of a parking lot as the group appeared to be standing behind his vehicle.

“As we were still trying to talk to him, he just immediately started reversing into us,” Vallecillo told the outlet.  

The group reportedly alleges Kolitkoff backed into one student and ran over Vallecillo’s foot before driving away.

According to Kotlikoff, the group surrounded his vehicle, “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,” Kotlikoff added.

Sophia Arnold, the student group’s president, told WSYR she witnessed the alleged incident and was upset by Kotlikoff’s alleged escalation. 

“I don’t even have the words for it. I was pretty shocked and offended,” Arnold said. “A random pedestrian pulling out of a supermarket parking lot would probably have shown more care.”

An aerial view shows the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, N.Y., on April 11, 2023. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg)

Arnold also reportedly disputed Kotlikoff’s version of events. 

“Contrary to the university statement, we really weren’t intending to block President Kotlikoff in his car,” Arnold told WSYR, adding, “He hadn’t signaled or honked, or even rolled down the window and said, ‘get out of my way.’”

Details regarding whether the incident had been reported to campus police remained unclear as of Monday. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Cornell University and the Students for a Democratic Cornell for comment.