As Cornell University continues to reckon with an alleged 2024 gang rape case, faculty members grilled the university’s president in a heated meeting on Wednesday, while many called to issue a vote of no confidence in the Cornell administration.
A full recording of the Faculty Senate meeting, which was obtained and verified by WSKG, offered a look into the frustration and turmoil bubbling among Cornell’s faculty, as the campus grapples with claims from a former student—known as Jane Doe—that she was sexually assaulted at a fraternity house in October 2024.
During his conversation with faculty, Kotlikoff admitted that he did know that the men who are defendants in the lawsuit received sanctions from Cornell University, which included expulsions and suspensions for some of them.
He maintained that he did not know “any of the details of the case” and evidence—including Snapchat conversations between the men—and admitted he did not know Doe had withdrawn from Cornell.
The meeting and call for a vote of no confidence comes as the university has scrambled to respond to continued outrage over Doe’s case. While a vote of no confidence is nonbinding, it would still be a rare move from a group of faculty at many universities. And it could buoy others’ calls for Kotlikoff to step down.
“I understand the anger that many of you feel about the situation,” Kotlikoff told faculty members on Wednesday, in his first meeting with the Faculty Senate as a whole since Doe filed the civil lawsuit in September.
The meeting also gave insight into how much Kotlikoff knew about Doe’s case, including the Title IX investigation, as it unfolded.
“It is not accurate that I didn't know that any of the men were punished,” Kotlikoff said in response to a question from a faculty member. “I didn't know any of the details of the case in terms of the Snapchats or any of that additional evidence that came out during the investigation. It is true that I was not aware that Jane Doe had dropped out of the university.”
Kotlikoff said he did not have access to a transcript of investigators' interview with Jane Doe during the investigation.
"I was not privy to the transcript, et cetera. Similarly, the criminal investigation is a confidential investigation that's shared with the district attorney. It's not shared with the president. There is a reason for that," he said.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Houten told WSKG last month that he was not given the interview transcript, which some media outlets have obtained and reported on. He said "if factual, it certainly would have changed our investigation” in 2024.
Many of the speakers said students, staff and alumni are being let down by systemic failures within Cornell and an inability to address sexual violence on campus.
“We need to reckon with the fact that trust is completely eroded on this campus between students and administration,” Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Julia Chang said in addressing her colleagues.
Chang said she backs the resolution, which currently has more than 100 faculty co-sponsors. Professor Paul Ortiz, who wrote the resolution, defended the move during the meeting.
“Jane Doe’s case is but the tip of the iceberg,” said Ortiz, who directs the Graduate Studies for Cornell's Latina/o Studies Program. Ortiz said students have told him and other co-sponsors that they are scared to walk on Cornell’s campus at night out of fear of being assaulted.
“Most of the current and former students who have approached faculty to share their stories of being sexually assaulted at Cornell told have told us they were afraid to report these assaults because they felt that Cornell has often treated rape as a ‘PR problem,’ rather than a heinous crime,” Ortiz said.
‘A very careful, open look at Greek life’
In addressing the group, Kotlikoff pointed to measures he issued yesterday to ban fraternity parties and bolster campus sexual support services and training on consent. Kotlikoff also suggested a deeper assessment of Cornell’s Greek life culture was necessary.
“We don’t have full ability to be confident that what goes on in those houses is safe,” Kotlikoff said. “I think we need a very careful, open look at Greek life on campus.”
Kotlikoff stopped short of suggesting the university ban Greek life entirely, saying that he spoke with alumni who say “their sorority and fraternity experience was a very important part of their life at Cornell.”
Some of the questions from faculty prodded Kotlikoff to explain the university’s process in making students feel safe on campus. One faculty member asked how to address concerns from students that some of the men named in the lawsuit were allowed to return to campus following their suspension, as an outcome of the Title IX investigation into Doe’s case.
And at other times, speakers directed their frustration at Kotlikoff and senior administrative officials over how they have handled Doe’s case and sexual assaults on campus so far.
“Your reported lack of interest in the Jane Doe event is in fact very surprising, since, as president of Cornell University, you have been extraordinarily active in the disciplining of student behavior,” Richard Bensel, who is a government professor, said directly to Kotlikoff, referencing decisions by the university to discipline students who have led protests on campus, including over the war in Gaza.
“I really reject the idea that I have had no interest in it or was not concerned about it,” Kotlikoff replied to Bensel.
Risa Lieberwitz, who teaches in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said Kotlikoff appeared more interested in responding to public “pressure” than hearing the needs of the community.
“And the reaction to pressure shows up in the drip, drip, drip of emails that we get, saying, ‘This is going to happen, this is going to happen, this is going to happen,’” Lieberwitz said. “It feels that the administration is considering more about how we respond to pressure rather than the kind of leadership which should have been doing systemic work and prioritizing these issues all along.”
Suman Seth, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, criticized Kotlikoff for how he proceeded in the meeting’s discussions.
“Having listened to the president, I was deeply disturbed by the refusal to take any personal responsibility for the situation that we’re in,” Seth said of Kotlikoff, who has served as Cornell’s provost or president for more than a decade.
When several other faculty members said that Kotlikoff appeared more willing to punish students for peaceful protests on social issues, Kotlikoff replied that the school has acted in accordance with its free speech policies.
“There is no effort to suppress anyone’s voice,” said Kotlikoff.
Will a no confidence vote resolution help?
Many of the professors agreed with Kotlikoff that the university needed to address Greek life on campus.
“It feels like to me, as someone who's researched this problem, that Cornell is in an abusive relationship with fraternities and has been since 1873,” Visiting Critic Andrew Lucia said, citing the country’s first fraternity hazing death, which occurred at Cornell.
But some faculty questioned whether a vote on the resolution—which they viewed as toothless, vague and a symbolic move empty of real action—was premature.
Speaking on behalf of 20 economics professors who responded to a departmental survey on the resolution, Professor Seth Sanders said that 80 percent were not in favor of the resolution, while 20 percent supported it. The group, as well as some members of the physics department, suggested postponing a vote on any resolution as more information emerges from an independent review.
But a large majority of the speakers said the vote of no confidence is a necessary first step to address the hundreds of testimonies they’ve heard from students, staff and alumni who say they no longer trust Cornell’s administration to mitigate sexual violence on campus.
In defending the resolution, co-sponsors read out several statistics during the meeting—including a March 2026 report from Cornell that surveyed students and found that 35 percent of undergraduate women respondents and eight percent of undergraduate men reported experiencing sexual assault in 2025.
Next steps
Faculty are slated to discuss the motion to vote no confidence against the “central” administration again on Oct. 28, after which it will be up for a vote. Faculty senators have not yet indicated when the vote would take place.
Although only Cornell’s Board of Trustees has the power to hire and dismiss university presidents, the resolution currently has more than 100 Senate Faculty co-sponsors.
Cornell’s board of trustees is set to meet on Thursday.
The Faculty Senate meeting, which was held in person and remotely, also saw an active chat in the Zoom call. One person commented, “Currently, leadership is not capable of leading this change.”
At one point, when Kotlikoff was addressing the group, another person wrote, “Disappointing, deflecting answers.”