This particular individual was the same one struck in the first place while standing in the driver’s blind spot. After being bumped initially, the student then appears to move forward towards the driver’s side door, where presumably their foot was run over by the back wheel.
Lots of stupidity on both sides. And all parties should be held accountable.
Looks quite tame compared to the usual expectation of what happens when Israeli / Palestinian politics is involved.
The kids were being a-holes and blocking his way. However, they weren’t threatening him, nor was he in any risk of injury or death, nor was there any risk to him if he waited 20 minutes. He was not justified in driving his car at them, rather than calling the campus police and waiting 10 minutes until they came and dealt with the kids.
“Move out of the way, or I will call campus police and they will move you” is a very simple sentence to say.
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.
….. “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.”
Can’t imagine he’d be fired based on the video I saw - nor reprimanded. He doesn’t owe an apology but the students do.
I think the president is clearly in the wrong and deserves a reprimand. I would agree if they chose to fire him.
It’s interesting how two people can watch the same thing - but see a completely different result - but it happens.
I was actually thinking earlier today - what happened to this - like all the hoopla died down - so it was good someone posted an update - that it was out there.
I suspect, but don’t know, if something were to happen to the President that it would have already. But I guess we shall see.
The President usually gives the commencement address. President Kolitkoff is respected and took over in a tough spot when Pres. Pollack resigned in 2024. He is on a two year term, so he may be allowed to finish his term.
He issued a false statement trying to get ahead of the incident. To me that’s an abuse of his position. And as university president he should be held to a higher standard. There was no reason why he couldn’t have waited for campus police to clear the students before pulling out.
My prediction is he will resign.
I agree. I don’t think he will be able to stay in his position.
He hit two people with his car, and issued a false statement completely mischaracterizing the actions of the people surrounding the car? I don’t know what he could have been thinking…did he think a video of the situation wouldn’t come out?!
Suppose it had been a group of parents yelling at Kotlikoff? Or alumni donors? Or ROTC students, or athletes in uniform, or fraternity and sorority members? I don’t think he would have got in the car and driven away.
College presidents don’t generally have campus security with them. If he felt he was ‘intimidated and harassed’ and didn’t feel safe, he should have called campus security. Seems so simple.
Regardless what happens to him/his job, many will define his tenure by his actions that night and in his statement.
I haven’t heard if either of the students who were hit are bringing charges against him, but it seems that wouldn’t be out of the question.
We are not him - we’ll never know.
He might have assumed he could get in the car and it would clear.
He might not have felt safe to get out of the car and walk away.
I mention security, because clearly this event had some level of controversy associated with it.
Anyway, we have no idea what was in his mind but his explanation about being intimidated and harassed is certainly plausible.
In my belief, you are victim blaming here, to put a parallel to another situation where someone might be made to feel uncomfortable.
But we are not judge and jury so what we think doesn’t matter.
This.
There is not a single universe in which Kotlokiff would have rolled over the feet of any of the above-named types and then casually shrugged it off. Not in a million years.
Personally, I am curious if legal gave him the go-ahead to release his “harassment and intimidation “ email. His characterization of the events is problematic, to put it mildly.
Whether he acted impulsively, foolishly, out of fear, or out of arrogance is not really the issue; it’s how he handled those actions in the aftermath.
And again, the fact that his statement attempts to lecture students on how to have productive civil discourse is… ironic, I guess?
Please state your opinion once, defend once if needed, and move on. Thank you for your understanding.
Alternate take: “Ivy League Student Taught Valuable Physics Lesson By Standing in Front of Moving Car.”
I get the humor, but the student wasn’t standing in front of the car, and the car wasn’t moving. The President chose to take the car out of Park, shift into Reverse, ignore the student who would have been fully visible in his rear video camera, and tap his foot on the accelerator to bump the student. Lots of volitional actions here. Perhaps the headline should read: “Ivy League President Taught Valuable Physics Lesson By Using Accelerator to Move Car.”
Interesting, the Committee agrees with you!
“The Committee has found that the actions taken by these individuals on April 30th, which included following President Kotlikoff from an evening event into a parking lot and impeding his ability to leave, are inconsistent with university policies governing expressive activity and our standards for respectful conduct, safety, and the prohibition of intimidation,” the committee wrote.
Following the Ad Hoc Committee’s email, Kotlikoff released a statement to the Cornell community, stating that he did not initially realize he hit anyone with his car and explaining why he declined to pursue action against the group involved in the incident. “