A day after the Cornell University president tried to calm students and parents by banning parties at fraternity houses, he faced a largely hostile faculty senate on Wednesday that was considering a vote of no confidence against his administration.
The president, Michael I. Kotlikoff, has been in crisis mode since news broke several weeks ago that a former undergraduate, known as Jane Doe, had filed a lawsuit against the university, her sorority and a fraternity accusing seven men of sexually assaulting her in 2024.
The Cornell faculty senate is a mostly advisory body, without the power to remove the president. But a vote of no confidence in Dr. Kotlikoff’s leadership would be a rare rebuke and a possible rallying cry for those who want him to resign over Cornell’s handling of the investigation into Jane Doe’s allegations and the ensuing crisis.
The meeting started with a lengthy question-and-answer session with Dr. Kotlikoff, who generally defended his response and explained in greater detail why he made the decisions he announced on Tuesday.
The university decided to halt parties at fraternity houses, he said, because Cornell doesn’t “have the full ability to be confident that what goes on in those houses is safe.”
“And so for the time being, we will stop that activity and put in place a thorough examination,” he told more than 100 assembled faculty, students and staff members at the meeting, which took place at Rockefeller Hall on the Cornell campus.
The pause, he added, was also a chance to “take a step and carefully study” the issue of banning fraternities altogether, a step some have called for.
Addressing a speaker who supported such a ban, Dr. Kotlikoff said he had just spoken with alumni who said that “their sorority and fraternity experience was a very important part of their life at Cornell.”
“If at the end of the day, the fraternities cannot exist in a safe environment, and we can’t be convinced that they can be safe, then we should make that decision,” he said.
The question-and-answer session, which was available to the Cornell community through a video stream, evolved into more of a grilling.
Risa Lieberwitz, a professor of labor and employment law who backs the no-confidence resolution, which is scheduled for a vote on Oct. 28, said she was not swayed by the policy changes that the president had announced.
“This is a systemic problem that deserves systemic attention,” she said at the meeting. “And thus far, President Kotlikoff, it appears that you have simply reacted to pressure.”
Noah Tamarkin, an anthropology professor, asked how professors should handle the tense situation of two students who were back on campus after being suspended for their role in the alleged sexual assault following a campus Title IX investigation.
“We’ve heard repeatedly from our students, both undergraduate and graduate, as well as our colleagues and other staff, that ‘I don’t feel safe with these men on campus,’” he said.
None of the seven men have been charged with a crime, and all have denied wrongdoing. Two of the fraternity members were expelled, while two others were suspended and another was barred from campus, according to summaries of the punishments obtained by The Times. The remaining men were handed lighter punishments, the summaries showed.
Ariana Kim, a music professor and faculty senator, spoke about her concern that reports of sexual assault on campus have climbed since 2021, with 35 percent of undergraduate women saying in a 2025 survey that they had some kind of nonconsensual sexual contact during their time at Cornell.
Dr. Kotlikoff responded that while the number of sexual assaults on campus has long been at an “unacceptable level,” the university did not have “good data” and there was “a very low participation rate” in a recent student survey.
“But we don’t need better data to say that it’s too much, and that’s why we have to take action to change the culture,” he added.
Julia Chang, an associate professor, asked how the president would rebuild trust. Dr. Kotlikoff pointed to the independent review that Cornell has commissioned, to be run by Sally Yates, a former deputy attorney general in the Obama administration.
As he has since the Jane Doe allegations shook campus, Dr. Kotlikoff defended his leadership, while acknowledging that he had made some mistakes.
“If this university feels that they will solve this problem by replacing a president, that itself is not good for Cornell’s reputation,” he said, “because I don’t think it’s the right way to address situations like this.”
After Dr. Kotlikoff’s remarks, a debate over the no-confidence motion began. Though many senators at Wednesday’s meeting spoke in favor of a no-confidence resolution, others said they preferred to delay the scheduled Oct. 28 vote until Ms. Yates completes an internal review.
Seth Sanders, an economics professor, said that he favored postponing, and added that an informal survey of faculty sentiment in his department showed that many others agreed with him.
“We are concerned that a vote now that fails will send the wrong signal of support to the central administration,” he said, adding, “The best way to build a consensus is to wait for the promised review.”
But more speakers seemed to favor the resolution.
Paul Ortiz, a professor of labor history who is the motion’s main sponsor, said that the administration, and previous ones, had “created a climate or culture of fear that prevents many victims of sexual assault from coming forward.”
Victoria Xaka, an assistant professor of music at Cornell, who left the meeting early and spoke to reporters outside, said the faculty was upset. “There’s a lot of signs, a lot of anger, a lot of tension in the room,” she said.
She added, “The last-minute effort to try and demonstrate some level of accountability right before the faculty senate votes seems disingenuous.”
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