Cornell president Michael Kotlikoff accused of injuring two students in parking lot brawl after Israel debate
The president of Cornell University allegedly ran over one student’s foot and injured another during a heated argument in the parking lot after the Israel-Palestine debate.
A surveillance video last Thursday showed a group of students surrounding Michael Kotlikoff’s black Cadillac as they tried to stop him from leaving.
Kotlikoff then backed his SUV into the lot before suddenly stopping, according to video released by university programs.
He then continued his campaign, all the students surrounding his car.
A woman was seen standing in front of the Ivy League university president’s car before she got out and was shot as she approached him.
Another student filming Kotlikoff made a nuisance of himself by standing in front of a car as he tried to drive off campus in Ithaca, New York.
Kotlikoff, who has been Cornell’s president since March 2025, is accused of injuring two students, the group Students for a Democratic Cornell posted on Instagram.
“When we tried to discuss the principles of speech at school, he hit us with his car,” said the group.
“Kotlikoff’s violent response to the student investigation is just another example of his administration’s crackdown on student speech.”
Video obtained by Cornellian Only shows one student being hit by Kotlikoff’s car as he backed up.
“Oh! You just ran over my king’s foot!” Cornell Democrat Aiden Vallecillo’s students screamed.
On Friday, Kotlikoff said he was “attacked by a small group of people” as he tried to leave an event hosted by the Cornell Political Union and sponsored by Cornell Progressives, Cornellians for Israel, and Students for Justice in Palestine.
“These individuals are known to Cornell for their past behavior, including a long history of verbal and online harassment of many members of the Cornell administration and staff, and disruptive protest that resulted in, in the case of two individuals, suspension from school,” he said.
“These people followed me from the venue of the event and to all the campuses, while shouting loudly and asking and recording with their phones.
“After answering a few questions, I informed them that I did not intend to continue, and asked them to stop filming.
“Their response to this was, ‘No, we will not stop.’ They continued to follow me in my car and went around the car banging on the windows and blocking the car and shouting.
“I waited until I saw a space behind the car and using the rear pedestrian warning system and the automatic braking system, I was able to control my car slowly from the parking lot and out of the parking lot.”
He continued, “The behavior I experienced last night is not protest. Harassment and intimidation, with the specific purpose of silencing speech. It has no place in an academic community, it has no place in a democracy, and it has 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 yelling at him — it was just one person talking to him just trying to talk,” Athas told the Cornell Sun.
Last April, the Trump administration froze more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell University while the government investigated allegations of human rights violations.
The federal government has warned university administrators that they may bring legal action if the review finds it has failed to stop non-compliance.
The Trump administration has cracked down on pro-Palestinian campus protests, calling the protesters antisemitic.
In November, Cornell struck a deal with the state that would restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
The agency has agreed to pay the government more than $30 million, and invest another $30 million in its agricultural and agricultural programs, for which it is known.
