This article is a developing story and will be updated with new information as it becomes available.
President Michael Kotlikoff drove his car into a Cornell student and ran over the foot of a recent graduate following a Cornell Political Union debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict Thursday evening, according to video footage obtained by The Sun.
In a Friday email to the Cornell community, Kotlikoff described being followed to his car after the debate and “accosted” by a group of students and non-students who he wrote were “shouting,” “blocking the car” and “banging on the windows” before he left the parking lot. Kotlikoff described the encounter as a “harassment and intimidation incident” and wrote that he “waited until [he] saw space behind the car.” Kotlikoff did not mention any collision between the vehicle and the individuals.
Video footage obtained by The Sun shows Students for a Democratic Cornell members Aiden Vallecillo ’26 and Hudson Athas ’27 being struck by the car. In the video, no person can be seen touching the vehicle before it drove into Vallecillo and Athas.
The Sun spoke to Vallecillo, who said that he, Athas, SDC president Sophia Arnold ’26 and SDC member Aislyn Berg ’27 followed Kotlikoff to ask about free expression on campus after the event. After entering his car, Kotlikoff “rapidly backed into” Vallecillo and Athas and then drove off, according to Vallecillo.
The two have not been contacted by the University since the incident, Vallecillo told The Sun. Kotlikoff’s email was released without reaching out to any students involved for a statement or to fact check, he added.
When reached for comment by The Sun on the contents of the footage — including the footage that disproved Kotllikoff’s claim that students “bang[ed] on” his vehicle — a University spokesperson acknowledged the new information and affirmed that the University still stands by Kotlikoff’s email statement.
The Incident
The incident occurred after CPU’s “Israel Was Not Justified in its Response to Oct. 7” debate featuring guest speaker Norman Finkelstein Thursday evening, where Kotlikoff presented an opening statement. After the event ended, four SDC members — and bystanders not recognized by Vallecillo — followed Kotlikoff from Goldwin Smith Hall to his parked car near Day Hall, Vallecillo told The Sun.
Vallecillo said that he and the three SDC members attended the debate to listen to Finkelstein speak, and were not aware that Kotlikoff would be present.
“We decided to converse with Kotlikoff after Finkelstein — as well as a number of student debaters and Kotlikoff, himself — encouraged the proliferation of free speech on campus,” Vallecillo said.
The SDC members asked Kotlikoff about the Expressive Activity Policy, temporary suspensions on campus, the referendum and free speech during the five-minute walk to Kotlikoff’s car, Vallecillo said. In his email, Kotlikoff wrote that the individuals “loudly shouted” questions at him and refused to stop recording after he indicated that he did not want to engage further.
“We weren’t all shouting at him — it was mostly one person who was talking with him and just trying to have a conversation,” Athas told The Sun. “I feel that he violated his own proclaimed philosophy of free and open discussion, and I don’t believe it was anything that could remotely be classified as harassment.”
Vallecillo described the president as "dismissive," "disinterested" and "disrespectful" in response to their questions.
As he approached his car, Kotlikoff said “good night” to the students and got into his car as the SDC members continued to attempt to speak with him, according to video footage obtained by The Sun.
Kotlikoff wrote that these individuals “surrounded”, “block[ed]” and “bang[ed]” on his car. According to video footage obtained by The Sun, students surrounded the car and one student blocked the rear of the vehicle by standing behind the car, but no one touched the vehicle.
SDC wrote in a statement to The Sun that “there was no attempt to intimidate Kotlikoff, physically or verbally and students consistently remained a safe distance away from him.”
Kotlikoff then “waited until [he] saw space behind the car” and used his “car’s rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system” to “slowly maneuver” out of the parking spot, Kotlikoff wrote in his email to the Cornell community.
The footage shows 15 seconds passed between Kotlikoff entering the vehicle and backing out of the parking spot.
While leaving the parking spot, Kotlikoff backed into Athas with his car and ran over Vallecillo’s right foot after Athas asked “am I allowed to stand here?” while standing behind Kotlikoff’s car, according to video obtained by The Sun.
Kotlikoff drove away without saying anything to them while Vallecillo yelled to Kotlikoff, “You just rolled over my f*cking foot, oh my god”, according to Vallecillo’s statement to The Sun and video footage obtained by The Sun.
Following the incident, the SDC members called the Cornell University Police Department, who responded to the call, took statements from the SDC members and called for Cornell Emergency Medical Services.
Cornell EMS were dispatched to the Day Hall parking lot at 8:31 p.m., mentioning a “college male” whose “foot was run over by a vehicle,” according to an audio recording of the Tompkins County police scanner.
Vallecillo told The Sun he was seen on site by Cornell EMS, but has not received any further medical treatment. As of Friday, he told The Sun that his right foot is “painful … to walk on.”
No charges have been pressed, and Vallecillo said he feels “fearful” and “intimidated” of pressing charges with CUPD “considering Michael Kotlikoff is the boss of CUPD” and has released a statement that includes “false information about us and our actions,” he said.
In his Friday email, Kotlikoff described the individuals involved as students and non-students who “are known to Cornell for their past conduct” and have “a long history of ongoing verbal and online abuse” towards members of Cornell’s administration and staff” and “disruptive protest.”
Vallecillo described Kotlikoff’s characterization of the individuals as a “deliberate lie” and said all four SDC members who were in the Day Hall parking lot have “no prior conduct record.”
“[On Thursday,] Michael Kotlikoff made it clear that he would rather violently attack students than engage with us,” Athas wrote in a press release sent to The Sun. “This is representative of the culture that Cornell’s administration cultivates on campus, where students are afraid to speak out against University administration for fear of repression.”
Sophia Dasser ’28, Shubha Gautam ’28 and Atticus Johnson ’28 contributed reporting.
Update, May 1, 9:00 p.m.: This article was updated to include a screenshot of President Michael Kotlikoff's Friday email to the Cornell community.
Mary Caitlin Cronin is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a senior writer for the News department and can be reached at mcronin@cornellsun.com.
Varsha Bhargava is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is the managing editor for the 144th Editorial Board and was a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board. She can be reached at vbhargava@cornellsun.com.
