Cornell's President Faces a No-Confidence Vote After Admitting He Never Followed Up on a Rape Report
Michael Kotlikoff, Cornell University's president, spent roughly 90 minutes on Oct. 14 answering questions from the university's Faculty Senate behind closed doors in Schwartz Auditorium. Provost Kavita Bala joined him. Only the last 30 minutes of the meeting were set aside for debate on a no-confidence resolution. Kotlikoff left after his remarks and the Q&A, and did not stay for the debate, according to co-sponsor Anne Marie Brady. Government professor Richard Bensel, who attended, told the Associated Press the session was civil and the president composed — but he estimated 80 percent of faculty who spoke backed the no-confidence vote. "The faculty were extremely angry. They gave him a hard time, I think appropriately so," Bensel said.
The trigger was a New York Times interview published Oct. 13. Kotlikoff acknowledged he never followed up after learning in 2024 that a student reported being sexually assaulted at a fraternity house. He said he learned only recently that she had left Cornell, and that students had been expelled or suspended. He said he is "personally sorry," while noting, "We don't set up a presidential task force for minor issues." He also argued the public has received conflicting information and does not appreciate the complexity of a Title IX process.
It reads: "The Faculty Senate has no confidence in the ability of the central administration to effectively address the ongoing crisis of sexual assault at Cornell University." Labor history professor Paul Ortiz leads the sponsors, who filed it with the dean of faculty's office on Oct. 7. Ortiz said colleagues pushed the sponsors to act, and recounted that Kotlikoff suggested replacing the president would not serve the university — though the measure does not call for his resignation.
A former student, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, says seven Chi Phi fraternity members drugged her with ketamine and sexually assaulted her in the early hours of Oct. 20, 2024, and that one member invited others to join through a Snapchat group message. She filed a civil lawsuit in September naming the seven men, Cornell, and the fraternity's national organization, alleging the university mishandled her complaint.
According to discipline summaries obtained by the Times, a three-member panel heard the campus Title IX case over Zoom in May 2025. Two men were expelled. Two were suspended — one for two years, one for three semesters — with probation attached. One who had already graduated was barred from campus as persona non grata. The remaining two were ordered not to contact Jane Doe and required to study sexual harassment and write "reflection papers." A university spokesperson described the outcome as "a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions."
A day before the Senate met, Kotlikoff announced that all parties and social events at Interfraternity Council houses are suspended through the end of the 2026-27 academic year, with immediate emergency suspension for any chapter that violates the order. Cornell will also give New York State Police investigators a role in campus sex-crime cases, which campus police controlled previously; add a case manager in the Office of Civil Rights; add victim advocates; and expand bystander training. He called the steps "first steps toward systemic change," writing, "I am deeply sorry for the harm Jane Doe suffered in 2024."
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declined to prosecute in 2024, then said he had never seen the full transcript of the victim's interview with campus police. In late September, New York Attorney General Letitia James opened a review of Cornell's response. On Oct. 1, Gov. Kathy Hochul removed the case from the local prosecutor and appointed James as special prosecutor, with authority to present evidence to a grand jury. Cornell announced Oct. 6 that it had retained former acting U.S. attorney general Sally Yates to lead an independent review.
Kotlikoff, 75, who became interim president in July 2024 and was made permanent the following year, has also faced a dining and custodial workers strike, criticism over a $60 million settlement with Trump administration civil rights investigations, and an April 30 incident in which protesters surrounded his car and a student said Kotlikoff ran over his foot; he denied wrongdoing and called himself the target of harassment. At protests this month, students demanded his resignation.
Debate resumes Oct. 28 followed by five days of online voting by the Senate's roughly 130 voting members; a simple majority carries. Sponsors stress the resolution does not name anyone for removal. "We're saying we don't have confidence in the way that they are handling this," co-sponsor Iris Packman said. The vote is largely symbolic — the Board of Trustees decides who leads Cornell — but it lands as state investigators, an independent review, and a pending lawsuit all press on the university at once.