University Statements

Dear Cornell Community,

When I stepped into the office of president, after many years as part of this community, I made it a priority to remain an active member of our academic community — to attend events, be available for meetings, interact with students, and respond to questions and concerns openly and honestly.

It is in that spirit that I write today about the events of April 30. Now that the ad hoc special committee has released its findings, I would like to share some thoughts and observations about that evening and what followed.

The first observation is one that, disappointingly, has hardly been mentioned in all the coverage and discussion over the past two weeks: the steadfast dedication to respectful exercise of free expression displayed at Cornell throughout the Israel-Palestine Debate Series. I was glad to be able to introduce one of the events, proud of our students for their willingness to engage, and grateful to the organizations involved for their readiness to platform both sides of a controversial and emotional argument. The series provided our students with valuable opportunities to engage respectfully in civil discourse — which they did, taking advantage of a critical and key part of a Cornell education.

The second observation regards the questions and narratives that have emerged over the past two weeks. When I shared my experience with the community on May 1st, I did not believe, based on the information I had at the time, that my car had made any contact with anyone. 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. In the moment, my goal was extricating myself from the situation safely without escalating it. In retrospect, I certainly should have remained in my car, locked it, and called the police.

There is one more decision that I feel I must explain, both to our community and those beyond it, and that is my decision, after much consideration and discussion, not to pursue a campus code complaint against the enrolled Cornell students involved in this incident. This decision is not a reflection of the seriousness of their behavior, but a consideration of the realities of our code processes: the public hearings required by the code would grant these students even more of the attention they have been seeking. It would, in effect, reward the behavior and further divide our campus community, and this I will not do.

And finally: My commitment to free expression, and to the university Expressive Activity Policy that was created in partnership with our community, is unwavering. Freedom of expression is inherently a concept centered not in the individual, but in the relationships between them; speech only carries meaning when one can speak and another can listen. In a community and in a democracy, any exercise of that freedom carries the responsibility to respect the same rights for others. That is why we have policies and guidelines around free expression at Cornell: to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected and that no one can shout-down or silence other views. I will continue to defend those policies with every means at my disposal.

Sincerely,

Michael I. Kotlikoff
President