EDITORIAL: Kotlikoff did nothing wrong

On the evening of Thursday, April 30th, Cornell President Michael I. Kotlikoff left an event held by the Cornell Political Union featuring Norman Finkelstein, a Jewish-American activist famous for his critical view of Israel, and began walking back to his car. Returning to his vehicle, he was swarmed by students and others described by a university email as known agitators. They followed him from Goldwin Smith Hall across campus to his car while shouting questions and accusations. Kotlikoff initially answered a few questions before telling the mob he would not be engaging further.

Upon arriving at his car, the agitators surrounded and, according to Kotlikoff, banged against the car. According to the President himself, “[Students] surrounded the car, banging on the windows, blocking the car, and shouting.” During this madness, Kotlikoff slowly backed up, running over a protester’s foot.

Upon review of the parking lot footage released by Cornell, Kotlikoff appears justified in his actions. A detailed analysis is presented below:

The students surrounded the car and blocked any reasonable means of escape, with one individual even standing behind Kotlikoff’s car as he attempted to back out. When viewing parking lot camera footage, certain students appear to raise their hands to the window, ostensibly banging on the windows, as Kotlikoff insisted is what happened. 

This is a textbook example of unlawful restraint, and Kotlikoff had every right to use proportional force to escape. That is what he did: backing his car very slowly and carefully into the individual directly behind him. 

The video footage appears to show that the student who had his foot run over was standing to the side of the car as it was backing up. Based on this knowledge, any reasonable driver would come to understand that backing up would not risk injuring the student. It appears to be the student’s carelessness that caused the injury risk. He even appears to step towards the car as it is backing up https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p8BDGBlEUQA 0:28-0:30 (watch direction of step closely). 

A driver is not responsible for such unforeseeable injuries. 

If someone is driving at a legal speed and in a lawful manner, and someone jumps out into the road, the driver is usually not liable for hitting that person. 

If a driver is backing out of a parking space, and, while taking good care to look in all directions, finds nothing blocking the way, then he is not responsible for hitting some lunatic who sneaks behind the car and lies down directly behind the tires.

And, as with all these examples, if a driver backs up while a student is parallel to the car and clearly out of harm’s way, yet the student—whether through negligence or a reprehensible desire to make headlines—gets his foot run over, then responsibility lies not with the driver but with the pedestrian for his own irresponsible actions.

In sum, the individual who was ‘run over’ ended up injured, not due to Kotlikoff’s actions, but his own. 

Implications

The student activists involved want you to believe that this was an instance of negligence and abuse from the Cornell administration. Nothing could be further from the truth. This incident simply highlights the intolerance that has infected some of our peers at Cornell. The students at hand could not be content to simply voice their disagreement with Cornell administration policies; they felt the need to escalate into harassment, intimidation, and unlawful restraint.

If students are willing to harass the president of our university, what is likely to happen to conservative students who seek to bring conservative and divisive speakers to campus? Just two short years ago, when the Network of Enlightened Women and Cornell Republicans respectively sought to bring Ann Coulter and Michael Knowles to speak at Cornell, they were met with vicious resistance. Former Cornell Republicans presidents have also endured constant personal harassment and doxxing from intolerant students and their groups, similarly to what we just saw with Kotlikoff. We hope that April 30 was only a one-time incident, and we vehemently condemn the actions taken by those who wish to make our campus unsafe. 

To end on a more positive note, we are inspired by Kotlikoff’s actions on April 30th, particularly his refusal to capitulate and cower to the mob who surrounded him. If there is any lesson to be learned from the ‘Summer of Love’ in 2020, it is that no amount of appeasement will ever satisfy an angry, violent mob. A bully cannot be stopped by gentle words or polite requests–as some people suggest, in order to justify their cowardice. A bully can only be stopped by force. If Kotlikoff had allowed the students to succeed in restraining him, it would have simply empowered them and inspired future similar actions. But in standing his ground, Kotlikoff showed that these students have no power, not over his personal life and freedom, and thus, certainly none over our university.