A confrontation outside a campus debate at Cornell University has sparked competing accusations after the school’s president drove his vehicle through a crowd of protesters who had followed him to his car.
Michael Kotlikoff said the situation escalated only after he was surrounded and blocked from leaving, while students involved in the encounter say he reversed into them as they tried to question him.
The clash came after a Thursday night debate centered on Israel and Palestine, organized by the Cornell Political Union and supported by several student groups across the political spectrum.
Kotlikoff described the event itself as calm and productive, saying it reflected the kind of discussion the university encourages until the moment he exited the room.
“As I left the event room, I was accosted by a group of several individuals in the hall, among them students and non-students,” Kotlikoff wrote in a statement released Friday.
He said those individuals continued following him as he made his way outside, filming him on their phones and pressing him with questions tied to the debate.
“They continued to follow me to my car and then surrounded the car, banging on the windows, blocking the car, and shouting,” he said.
Kotlikoff said he remained inside the vehicle until he believed there was enough space to leave without causing harm.
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“I waited until I saw space behind the car and then, using my car’s rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, was able to slowly maneuver my car from the parking space and exit the parking lot,” he wrote.
Students who were present dispute that account, saying the president’s actions escalated the situation.
“As we were still trying to talk to him, he just immediately started reversing into us,” said Aiden Vallecillo, a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell.
Another student, Sophia Arnold, said she was stunned by what she witnessed.
“I don’t even have the words for it,” Arnold said. “A random pedestrian pulling out of a supermarket parking lot would probably have shown more care.”
Footage released by the university shows a vehicle believed to belong to Kotlikoff with people gathered behind it, some holding phones as they record.
Separate cellphone video captures a student shouting, “You just ran over my f—ing foot!” as the vehicle moves.
Students for a Democratic Cornell later accused Kotlikoff of deliberately using his car to avoid answering questions.
“When we tried to discuss campus speech policies, he hit us with his car,” the group said in a statement shared online.
The group also claimed that two students were injured during the encounter.
Kotlikoff rejected those allegations, framing the interaction as harassment rather than protest.
“The behavior I experienced last night is not protest,” he wrote. “It is harassment and intimidation, with the direct motive of silencing speech. It has no place in an academic community, no place in a democracy, and can have no place at Cornell.”
He added that some of the individuals involved had a history of disruptive conduct directed at university staff.
“These individuals are known to Cornell for their past conduct, including a long history of ongoing verbal and online abuse toward numerous members of Cornell’s administration and staff, as well as disruptive protest resulting, in the case of two individuals, in bans from campus,” Kotlikoff wrote.
Student groups have since called for a meeting with administrators to address the incident and broader concerns about campus policy.
A separate incident involving a vehicle and alleged reckless behavior is under investigation in Georgia, where authorities say a driver struck two cyclists during a group ride.
According to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, 72-year-old Jerry Ross encountered a group of cyclists traveling along Sugar Pike Road in Canton during a 32-mile ride.
Investigators said Ross repeatedly sounded his horn for nearly two miles as he approached the group from behind.
Police said he then accelerated past them and, despite no oncoming traffic, made contact with two riders before leaving the scene.
The impact caused cyclists to collide and fall onto the roadway, officials said. Both injured riders were treated at the scene.
Authorities said video recorded by another cyclist helped identify the vehicle and track down the driver.
“One cyclist riding behind the group captured the incident on video. The cyclists were also able to provide a tag number, which deputies used to quickly identify and locate the suspect,” the sheriff’s office said.
Ross was later located at a nearby residence, where deputies observed damage to his vehicle consistent with the reported crash.
“When questioned, Ross acknowledged the encounter and claimed the cyclists were in the roadway, blaming them for the collision,” officials said.
He was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, hit and run, reckless driving, aggressive driving and failure to maintain a safe distance from a bicycle.
Records show Ross is being held at the Cherokee County Detention Center on a $24,540 bond.
