President of Ivy League University accused of running over a student’s foot after a heated argument on campus

The president of an Ivy League university has been accused of crashing his car into a student and running over a second student’s foot after an on-campus debate.

The students involved in the debacle had attended a debate between supporters of Israel and supporters of the Palestinian cause at Cornell University on Thursday evening.

After the event, the two followed university president Michael Kotlikoff to his car and questioned him about free speech on campus, the Cornell Sun reported.

Aiden Vallecillo, a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell, explained that he and three other members of the student-led group did not expect Kotlikoff to attend the debate.

Author and political scientist Norman Finkelstein was present at the event. Kotlikoff gave an opening statement.

“We decided to talk to Kotlikoff after Finkelstein — as well as a number of student debaters and Kotlikoff himself — encouraged the spread of free speech on campus,” Vallecillo said.

He said they objected to the university’s suspension of student protesters and measures they say suppress freedom of expression on campus.

But in an email to students Friday, the university president claimed that students and non-students “loudly” shouted questions at him and refused to stop the recording.

The students refute that claim.

Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff has been accused of backing into a student and running over another’s foot after an on-campus debate Thursday

Footage released by the university shows that only 15 seconds passed between the time Kotlikoff got into his car and backed out of the parking lot into a student.

“We didn’t yell at him; it was usually one person talking to him and just trying to have a conversation,” junior Hudson Athas said.

“I feel that he has violated his own stated philosophy of free and open discussion and I do not believe this even remotely qualifies as harassment.”

Vallecillo also described the president as “dismissive,” “disinterested” and “disrespectful” in response to their questions.

Footage posted by the student group showed Kotlikoff accusing the group’s president, Sophia Arnold, of having an “agenda.”

Then walking to his car, the university president said “good night” to the students and got into his black Cadillac SUV which the students described as a “nice car” as they continued to try to talk to him about university policies.

Video footage released by the university then showed a group of students gathered behind the car, but no one could be seen touching the vehicle, despite Kotlikoff’s claim that the group of students were banging on the windows, blocking his path and shouting.

Kotlikoff claimed he waited until there was space behind him before “slowly” maneuvering out of the parking lot.

But the footage released by the university showed that only 15 seconds had passed between the time Kotlikoff entered his car and backed out of the parking lot into Athas, who had just asked, “Can I stand here?”

He also allegedly ran over Vallecillo’s right foot and drove away without saying anything to the student activists, with Vallecillo shouting, “You just rolled over my damn foot, oh my God.”

The group of students were seen gathering behind the vehicle as Kotlikoff entered

Kotlikoff claimed he waited until there was space behind him before “slowly” maneuvering out of the parking lot

Arnold described the entire incident as alarming.

‘I don’t even have words for it. I was quite shocked and offended,” she told WSYR. “A random pedestrian leaving a grocery store parking lot would probably have exercised more caution.”

After the incident, the students called Cornell University police, who took statements from the students at the scene and called Cornell Emergency Medical Services.

Cornell EMS was then dispatched to the parking lot at 8:31 p.m., when a police scanner listed a “student male” whose “foot was run over by a vehicle,” the Cornell Sun reports.

Vallecillo said he was subsequently seen at the scene by first responders but did not receive any further medical attention, although he told The Sun on Friday that his foot was painful to walk on.

No charges have been filed in the incident, as Vallecillo said he feels “fearful” and “intimidated” about filing charges with the Cornell University Police Department since Kotlikoff “is the boss of CUPD” and released a statement with “false information about us and our actions.”

In his email to students on Friday, Kotlikoff described those involved as both students and non-students who are “known at Cornell for their past conduct” and have “a long history of persistent verbal and online abuse” toward members of the Cornell administration and staff, as well as “disruptive protest.”

Vallecillo said that characterization was a “deliberate lie,” arguing that the four SDC members involved “have no prior behavioral record.”

Arnold also said she believes the president’s statement was an attempt to control the narrative.

“It felt like he was deliberately defaming us before the university had even checked with those two students to make sure everything was OK,” she claimed.

In a statement to NBC News Monday, a university spokesperson said it was investigating the incident and emphasized that not everyone involved was a current student.

“The university will take action, as appropriate, based on the results of the investigation and consistent with its policies, which are designed to maintain a safe environment for the Cornell community,” the spokesperson said.

The Daily Mail has also contacted the university for comment.