Videos released earlier this month showed Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff reversing his car into a student following a campus event.
Now, a special committee of Cornell’s Board of Trustees says it has finished reviewing the incident and no one will be criminally charged.
On April 30, a group followed Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff to his car after an Israel-Palestine debate series, asking questions about university disciplinary processes.
In a statement released the next day, Kotlikoff described the incident as “harassment and intimidation.” He did not mention backing his car into anyone. Videos released later that day show Kotlikoff reversing into one student, who was standing behind his car. Another student says Kotlikoff ran over his foot.
Cornell’s Board of Trustees established an ad hoc special committee to oversee the Cornell University Police Department’s (CUPD) investigation into the incident.
In a statement released Friday, the committee called the actions of the students involved “inconsistent” with university policies, but said that Kotlikoff will not be pursuing a complaint against them.
The committee's statement praised the university president, saying that he “has shown a steadfast commitment to Cornell’s values and principles,” and expressed their confidence in his ability to continue to “lead with integrity.”
The special committee added that the Tompkins County District Attorney’s office determined that no one involved should be criminally charged based on evidence collected by the CUPD.
The committee said they engaged “independent legal counsel to evaluate the independence and integrity of CUPD’s investigation into these events.”
“The Committee has determined that the investigation conducted by CUPD was done pursuant to existing policies without any bias or undue influence.”
The statement said that university police reviewed “information gathered at the scene of the incident, verified video footage, and a sworn statement provided by President Kotlikoff to CUPD.”
The committee said that the students involved declined to give statements to university police.
In a statement, Students for a Democratic Cornell—the group involved—said there is no way for Cornell’s board of trustees or university police to independently investigate the university president.
“The Trustees’ representation that CUPD’s investigation was “without any bias or undue influence” ignores the conflicts of interest inherent in the University’s decision to investigate itself.”
The group said they were never contacted by the board’s committee or “any independent investigator.”
They said they contacted the Ithaca Police Department (IPD) and asked them to conduct the investigation, but were told “that IPD was unable to initiate an investigation unless CUPD ceded its jurisdiction.”
“We had no faith in CUPD’s ability to conduct an independent investigation as an arm of the administration which has actively engaged in the repression of student protest, and were concerned that information provided to CUPD could be used against us by the University in disciplinary proceedings.”
Cornell University police have arrested dozens of students and non-students involved in protests and have identified others for discipline by the university. They have also banned non-student protesters from campus.
As of time of reporting, the university police’s Daily Crime Log does not seem to specifically list the incident, although responses to other calls that day are noted in the log. A report from days later does cite the issuance of a persona non grata order "to a non-affiliated individual that was trespassing in the parking lot area on 04/30/26." The Cornell Daily Sun reported that an alumni was banned from campus after witnessing the event.
Students for a Democratic Cornell say they want a “truly independent investigation,” reform to the university’s code of conduct, and a public meeting with Kotlikoff.
“The Trustees’ statement, unsurprisingly, clears Kotlikoff of any wrongdoing and furthers Kotlikoff’s campaign to disparage the students he hit with his car,” they wrote.
Later Friday afternoon, Kotlikoff released a statement covering his “thoughts and observations about that evening and what followed.”
He addressed his initial statement the day after the incident, which did not mention reversing into a person.
“I did not believe, based on the information I had at the time, that my car had made any contact with anyone.”
Kotlikoff’s initial statement also said protesters “banged” on his car, which videos from the scene do not show and the students deny.
“Only when I saw the videos circulating later did I realize that a student had placed himself directly behind the car without my being aware of it as I backed up. Only the following afternoon did I understand that my experience would look very different in the selected video clips posted on social media and be framed in ways that I found genuinely shocking.”
Kotlikoff wrote that he was trying to exit the situation without escalation.
“In retrospect, I certainly should have remained in my car, locked it, and called the police.”
In an op-ed in the Cornell Daily Sun last week, Cornell’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors expressed concern over “the seeming discrepancy between the president's email statement and the video evidence.” The graduate student’s union called for his resignation.
