A confrontation between Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff and anti-Israel student protesters has sparked a firestorm as the Ivy League university faces questions about conduct and free speech.
Ezra Galperin, Cornell class of 2027, told Fox News Digital the situation “was definitely an escalation” compared to previous anti-Israel activity on campus.
“I don’t think there’s a university president in the country right now who isn’t facing some sort of scrutiny, but certainly, at Cornell, something like this was unprecedented,” who Galperin, who noted he is part of Cornellians for Israel leadership but was not speaking on behalf of the group.
The confrontation occurred April 30 after Kotlikoff introduced an Israel-Palestine debate hosted by the Cornell Political Union and co-sponsored by Cornellians for Israel, Cornell Progressives and Students for Justice in Palestine, according to a statement he released. He described the event as “vigorous and civil” and “an example of the kind of open discourse that we prize in our academic community.”
As he left, Kotlikoff said, he was “accosted by a group of several individuals,” including students and non-students, some of whom were known to Cornell for past conduct involving “ongoing verbal and online abuse” of administrators and staff. He said the group included two individuals previously banned from campus after a “disruptive protest.”
Footage that later went viral shows individuals questioning Kotlikoff while filming him as he walked to his car. After answering several questions, he said he told them he would not engage further and asked them to stop recording, but they refused and continued following him.
“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,” Kotlikoff wrote.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY HIT WITH FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT OVER ALLEGED DISCRIMINATORY DEI PRACTICES
In the footage, one person can be heard yelling, “He just ran over my f—— foot!” It is unclear whether the person’s foot was actually harmed. A separate video also posted by Students for a Democratic Cornell (SDC) appears to show an individual being struck by the vehicle while standing behind it.
“The behavior I experienced last night is not protest. It is harassment and intimidation, with the direct motive of silencing speech,” Kotlikoff added. “It has no place in an academic community, no place in a democracy and can have no place at Cornell.”
Galperin underscored the surprising nature of the clash, saying, “It just kind of came out of nowhere.”
He said that he recognized some of the students in the video and claimed that he had served in the Cornell Student Assembly with one of the students in the video. Galperin said the student had served as the Student Assembly’s ethics director.
CORNELL DROPS ISRAEL-HATING SINGER ‘KEHLANI’ FROM END OF SCHOOL YEAR CONCERT
“I’m surprised and disappointed at the whole situation. Cornell has generally remained a good place to be over the last few years, and I hope that this incident doesn’t change that,” he said.
SDC released a statement on its Instagram account after the incident in which the group called on Kotlikoff to “restore our independent judicial system,” “end the suspensions of nonviolent student protestors,” “commission an independent investigation of the incident” and hold a meeting to address the demands.
“Kotlikoff’s violent response to student inquiry is just another example of his administration’s repressive crackdown on student speech,” SDC said. “Responsibility does not fall solely on Kotlikoff. Any attempts by the University to make him a scapegoat for an incident they are complicit in is yet another tactic to silence student dissent.”
In response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, a university spokesperson said, “The university is investigating the events that took place on April 30, 2026, involving a group of individuals and President Kotlikoff. The university will take action, as appropriate, based on the results of the investigation and in line with its policies, which are designed to uphold a safe environment for the Cornell community.”
Cornell Law School Professor William Jacobson told Fox News Digital he believed the incident looked “like a setup” by the anti-Israel agitators.
“What’s clear to me is that this was a deliberate provocation,” Jacobson said. He said the tactic is meant to create a “decision dilemma” for Kotlikoff, in which any response, or lack of one, would make him “look bad.”
Jacobson said standing behind the car could arguably be seen as a violation of New York law, which prohibits intentionally and unlawfully restricting someone’s movement without their consent in a way that substantially interferes with their liberty.
“These student groups think they are immune to the rules that apply to everybody else. This president said, ‘No, you’re not immune to rules that applied to everybody else,’ and that’s what created this whole controversy,” Jacobson added.
As the university continues to investigate the incident, students and observers are left wondering what this confrontation means for the future of campus discourse and whether similar clashes could become more commonplace.
