Cornell faculty vote ‘no confidence’ in university’s leadership over handling of sexual assault allegations

(AP) - Cornell University’s Faculty Senate approved a resolution Friday declaring “no confidence” in the school’s top leaders, a symbolic gesture reflecting deep discontent on campus in the wake of a former student’s lawsuit saying she was gang raped at a fraternity party in 2024.

The resolution passed 75-50, with five faculty senators abstaining and five others not voting, according to an email sent to members of the Faculty Senate on Friday afternoon.

The vote followed weeks of debate among professors over whether Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff and other administrators handled the woman’s allegations properly and whether they’ve done enough to curtail sexual misconduct at the prestigious university.

While the faculty body has no power over the university’s top leaders, backers of the resolution had said they hoped it would pressure Cornell’s trustees to urgently address what they viewed as longstanding institutional failures.

Voting took place electronically over more than a week, with the results released Friday.

The Cornell community has been in a state of distress and dismay since mid-September, when a former student filed a lawsuit against the university and seven former members of the Chi Phi fraternity, saying she was given ketamine and raped at a fraternity house in October 2024.

All of those men have denied her allegations, saying either the sex was consensual or they weren’t involved. The local district attorney initially decided the woman had consented to the encounter, and that no crime had been committed, but the investigation has since been reopened and handed to New York’s attorney general.

Cornell disciplined several of the accused students following a months-long Title IX investigation. Two were expelled, two received suspensions and probation, and two were required to write “reflection” papers and complete bystander training. A seventh man had already graduated and was barred from campus, according to records obtained by The New York Times.

Kotlikoff also convened a task force to study the problem of sexual misconduct on campus, which released certain recommendations.

Some faculty members have been furious with Kotlikoff for not acting more forcefully to strengthen the school’s disciplinary process, push for criminal investigations and change campus party culture.

Paul Ortiz, a labor history professor who co-sponsored the no-confidence resolution, said last week that hundreds of students, staff, alumni and faculty approached the resolution’s sponsors to emphasize that “the Jane Doe case is but a tip of the iceberg” and that “a veritable fortress of silence has been breached” around sexual violence since the resolution’s introduction.

Speaking to Faculty Senate members on the first day that they debated the no-confidence resolution, Kotlikoff pledged to make the university a leader in addressing the problem of sexual assault, and he asked that he be given the time to make more changes.

Kotlikoff defended his leadership, arguing that replacing him would do little to solve complex problems and could damage Cornell’s reputation. He acknowledged he had not read the campus police report, explaining that university policy barred top administrators from interfering in criminal investigations. He also rejected suggestions that he had been indifferent to the woman’s case, though he acknowledged not having known until recently that she left Cornell.

Kotlikoff said the university needed to determine whether fraternities could operate safely and left open the possibility of sweeping restrictions on Greek life. He urged faculty to give him time to make changes, arguing that decisions should be based on research and evidence rather than emotion.

Some professors also urged patience and said faculty should wait until the release of an independent investigation by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, whom the university hired to examine both how Cornell responded to the woman’s initial rape report in 2024 and its overall procedures for handling similar reports from other students.

The no-confidence resolution did not call for Kotlikoff’s resignation.