The president of Cornell says he is traumatized after allegations that he hacked a student’s car
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The president of Cornell University says he was the victim of “harassment and intimidation” after allegedly hitting people with his car during a parking lot dispute over student freedom of speech.
The incident occurred on April 30, after Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff launched an Israel-Palestine debate series hosted by the Cornell Political Union and sponsored by Cornellians for Israel, Cornell Progressives and Students for Justice in Palestine, according to statement released by Kotlikoff.
As he walked to his car, Kotlikoff said he was followed in the campus parking lot by a group of people — students and non-students — “who 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.”
The group includes two people who were banned from the school following a “disruptive demonstration,” Kolitkoff said.
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Surveillance footage from Cornell University shows President Michael Kotlikoff backing his car into a group of people surrounding it in the campus parking lot on April 30. (Cornell University)
“These people followed me from the venue and to all the colleges, while shouting loudly asking questions and recording with their phones. After answering a few questions, I informed them that I did not intend to continue studying, and asked them to stop recording,” said Kotlikoff.
“Their response to this was, ‘No, we will not stop,'” he said. “They continued to follow me and followed me until they got to my car and they 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 then I used the rear pedestrian warning system and the automatic braking system, I was able to maneuver it slowly from the parking lot and then exit the parking lot.”
However, Aiden Vallecillo, a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell (SDC), he told WSYR students were trying to question Kotlikoff peacefully before the university president escalated the situation.
“We saw the president in the corridor and started asking him questions about the suppression of freedom of speech in the school,” said Vallecillo.
Video released by the university shows Kotlikoff’s black Cadillac pulling out of the parking lot as the group was seen standing behind his car.
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Surveillance footage from Cornell University shows President Michael Kotlikoff being followed by a group of people in a parking lot on April 30. (Cornell University)
“When we were trying to talk to him, he just started backing away from us,” Vallecillo told the media.
It is reported that the group alleges that Kolitkoff backed away from one student and fell on Vallecillo’s foot before leaving.
According to Kotlikoff, the group surrounded his car, “banging on the windows, blocking the car, shouting.”
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“I waited until I saw a space behind the car and then, using the rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, I was able to slowly control my car out of the parking lot,” Kotlikoff added.
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Sophia Arnold, president of the student group, told WSYR that she witnessed the alleged incident and was outraged by Kotlikoff’s alleged escalation.
“I don’t even have words for it. I was so shocked and upset,” Arnold said. “A pedestrian walking out of a supermarket parking lot probably showed more care.”
An aerial view shows the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY, on April 11, 2023. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg)
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Arnold also reportedly disputed Kotlikoff’s version of events.
“Contrary to the university’s statement, we actually did not intend to block President Kotlikoff from his car,” Arnold told WSYR, adding, “He had not said or honked, or rolled down the window and said, ‘get out of my way.’
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Details about whether the incident was reported to campus police were unclear as of Monday.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Cornell University and the Cornell Student Democrats for comment.
