Cornell Investigating Incident Between President and Protesters

Cornell University is investigating an incident between President Michael Kotlikoff and student demonstrators in which he bumped them with his car after they followed him out of an event.

Following the incident, Kotlikoff said he was the victim of intimidation and harassment and that students banged on his car as they surrounded it. However, video footage released by the group Students for a Democratic Cornell, does not show students banging on his vehicle as they tried to question him about campus protest policies and disciplinary actions for demonstrators.

Now Cornell is investigating the April 30 incident, the Board of Trustees announced last week.

“The investigation is being conducted by the Cornell University Police Department consistent with its existing policies and procedures. This investigation will inform the Board’s fact-based review of the events of that night in their entirety and aid in the Board’s decision-making,” Cornell announced in a statement from an Ad Hoc Special Committee of the board.

Kotlikoff has recused himself from involvement in the review.

Last week, an eyewitness accused Kotlikoff of deliberately running into students.

“Cornell’s president chose to hit two students with his car rather than engage openly with them about critical issues of free speech on campus,” Sophia Arnold, President of Students for a Democratic Cornell wrote in an emailed statement. “Conditions for free speech on campus will only improve if Kotlikoff rolls back his repressive crackdown on nonviolent protest.”

Some student groups have also demanded that Kotlikoff resign in the aftermath of the incident.

But support for Kotlikoff is surging in conservative quarters; multiple op-eds have applauded the president, for standing up to “campus bullies” and “refusing to let student brats take him prisoner.” The American Council of Trustees and Alumni have also called on Cornell to defend Kotlikoff, arguing in an op-ed that “this kind of student misbehavior needs to be quashed decisively.”