Straws in the Wind - Part 518

From the Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell will begin rolling out free access to several artificial intelligence tools for students, faculty and staff this school year, according to a University statement... The initiative is expected to include access to ChatGPT, Claude and Google Gemini. Ithaca campus and Cornell Tech faculty, staff and Ph.D. students will gain access in November, while master’s and undergraduate students will gain access in early 2027, according to the statement written by Provost Kavita Bala and Thorsten Joachims, vice provost for AI strategy. Eligible community members can opt in to basic access to a suite of AI tools at no cost. Faculty and staff will also be able to purchase additional capacity at discounted rates. A limited number of licenses for Google’s agentic AI tools will also be available for free in the spring. Within the suite, the University noted multiple specific work and coding tools that will become available to the campus community, including ChatGPT Work, ChatGPT Codex, Claude Cowork and Claude Code.

...The University’s agreements are intended to address concerns about privacy, security and legal terms associated with individually purchased AI tools. Weill Cornell Medicine is expected to create “its own phased implementation plans,” due to its “distinct clinical, research, regulatory, privacy, and security environment,” according to the statement...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/10/cornell-to-offer-free-chatgpt-claude-and-gemini-access-for-students-staff.

Straws in the Wind - Part 511

From the Cornell Daily Sun: The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression wrote an “urgent” letter to President Michael Kotlikoff on Oct. 16, criticizing his Oct. 13 decision to ban all Cornell Interfraternity Council social events for the rest of the academic year. “FIRE urges Cornell to rescind the October 13 directive as applied to any IFC organization that is not the subject of a pending Report or Formal Complaint,” the letter reads, requesting a “substantive response” confirming that the University has removed the ban by Oct. 26.

The letter claims that the ban violates students’ right to freedom of association, stating that this right prohibits universities from banning social functions unless such restrictions are “narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest.”

“Courts have invalidated far less onerous restrictions as impermissible burdens on associational freedom,” the letter reads. FIRE is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to investigate and protect against violations of free speech, focused on issues related to college campuses. In its 2027 College Free Speech Rankings, FIRE recently granted Cornell an F grade for its speech climate, ranking the University 219 out of the 261 schools studied.

“Guilt by association serves no one and guarantees that injustice will be done to innocent individuals -- in this case, including students who were not even on campus in October 2024,” [Robert Shibley, FIRE’s special counsel for campus advocacy,]  wrote...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/10/fire-calls-kotlikoff-s-fraternity-party-ban-a-guilt-by-association-punishment-that-violates-free-speech.

Where the money is - Part 3

From the Daily Bruin: A UCLA-affiliated research institute plans to revolutionize the liver transplant process by using up to a $19.8 million grant to create functional organs from cells. The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation will work with researchers from UCLA, Cornell University, Pennsylvania State University and other institutions on a project called “Prometheus,” which received the grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a federal research agency.

Prometheus – led by Dr. Xiling Shen, the Institute’s acting director – aims to solve a critical shortage of donor organs, according to an Oct. 2 press release. Among adults added to the U.S. liver transplant waiting list in 2023, 61.9% received a liver within one year, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients’. “The end goal is to be able to bioprint a functional liver and what I call the universal functional liver, which will be accepted or not rejected by anyone,” said Dr. Vadim Jucaud, an assistant professor at the Terasaki Institute...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/10/18/ucla-affiliated-institute-seeks-to-develop-synthetic-livers-with-19-8m-grant.

Straws in the Wind - Part 503

From the Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell’s annual drone and laser light show, scheduled to kick off homecoming weekend on Oct. 16, [was] canceled due to the City of Ithaca’s temporary moratorium on student event permitting, according to the Homecoming schedule website and a University spokesperson’s email to The Sun. The Ithaca Common Council passed a temporary moratorium on special event permits to Cornell and affiliated student organizations on Oct. 7. The moratorium, in effect until Nov. 5, impacts events with amplified sounds and music. “We canceled this year’s drone and laser light show to respect the City of Ithaca’s moratorium on permits for student events,” a University spokesperson wrote to The Sun. 

The event was slated for 8 p.m. on Friday at Schoellkopf Stadium, with attendance being free and open to the general public and DJ Chris Washburn opening the event. The decision comes amid national uproar following a Sept. 14 lawsuit in which a former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, alleged that she was sexually assaulted and gang raped after being coerced into consuming drugs at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/10/cornell-cancels-homecoming-drone-and-laser-light-show-due-to-moratorium-on-student-events.

Strikes and Protests

The Cornell School of Labor and Employment Relations has put out a "Labor Action Tracker" that lists known strikes and other labor-related "protests" back about 6 years. If you ask it for strikes at the University of California, it lists 12 strikes in that period and identifies where they occurred, the union involved, and other strike characteristics. Be aware that the maps may not be accurate. A Westwood protest, for example, showed a map location at what seemed to be a random area in LA. It's probably best to look at the particular strikes and/or protests listed and not worry about maps and overall counts. Just list "University of California" as the employer. The tracker is at:

https://striketracker.ilr.cornell.edu/.

Stanford as the next Cornell

On its face, the Stanford case seems less legally fraught than the Cornell case:

From the California Post: A Stanford graduate who was allegedly raped in her dorm room at 19 has blasted the school for its handling of her case — revealing her attacker can finish his degree this fall. The woman, who has remained a Jane Doe, detailed her ordeal in a blistering first-person account published in The Stanford Daily, the student-run campus newspaper, accusing officials and cops of repeated delays and mistakes that left her fighting for accountability for years.

“Over the last four years, I have struggled to make sense of what happened to me, and what continues to happen,” she wrote, questioning why the student was allowed to retain a path to graduation after Stanford found him responsible for “vaginally, digitally and orally raping her.” ...

The survivor also questioned why the university did not expel the student, asking: “If finding a student responsible for vaginally, digitally and orally raping their peer didn’t warrant an expulsion, what would?”

Stanford said the decision wasn’t its to make.

“Independent outside arbitrators—not the University—conduct Stanford’s Title IX hearings, impose sanctions, and hear appeals from either party,” the university said in a statement to The California Post.

University policy states that rape and domestic violence are “particularly egregious and likely warrant separation/termination or expulsion,” according to the statement, with the arbitrator applying that policy to the facts of each case...

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/10/18/us-news/stanford-girl-scorches-elite-college-after-traumatic-dorm-room-rape-as-she-slams-cornell-7-case/. 

The Stanford Daily story is at https://stanforddaily.com/2026/10/15/a-stanford-jane-doe/. "In response to The Daily’s request for comment on this op-ed, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office wrote that the office has filed a criminal case and is preparing for trial..."

NOTE: A follow-up story in the Stanford Daily refers to documents that suggest university authorities have a less passive role than just following the decision of an outside arbitrator. See https://stanforddaily.com/2026/10/18/stanford-responds-rape-case-failures/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 499

From ABC News: ...A member of the Marine Corps who shares the same name as one of the defendants in the [Cornell rape] case asked the court to restrict some of the filings in the case because he and his family have been the subject of "continued and ongoing harassment, including death threats from members of the public." Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond agreed to seal some of the filings on Friday, condemning what she described as "misguided vigilantism."

"This Court strongly condemns the reported acts of threats and doxing, which can only be characterized as brash, reckless, and ultimately dangerous internet vigilantism, " the judge wrote. "Our society has developed procedures and legal mechanisms over the course of centuries to ensure justice and due process are afforded to all. When certain actors decide to work outside those robust and developed frameworks, innocent people often get hurt. That is precisely what has happened here."

Full story at https://abcnews.com/US/accused-cornell-university-student-asks-gag-order/story?id=137205955.

Straws in the Wind - Part 493

From Inside Higher Ed: The University of Arizona put an interim pause on activities for all 21 of its fraternities... amid a series of ongoing misconduct investigations... In [a] letter, Dean of Students Chrissy Lieberman wrote that seven weeks into the semester, the university is “already” investigating nearly half of its fraternities for incidents including physical assault, hazing and inappropriate use of drugs and alcohol.  “The number of cases under investigation and the severity of the concerns is egregious,” Lieberman wrote to the “Arizona Fraternity and Sorority Community.” 

...Arizona’s decision to crack down on its Greek life system comes in the midst of a nationwide conversation over sexual misconduct at fraternities following a lawsuit against Cornell University for allegedly mishandling a 2024 allegation of gang rape at Chi Phi. UA's fraternity chapters are temporarily barred from hosting, sponsoring or participating in any organizational activities until the chapter advisers meet with Lieberman, her letter said. If they attend at least one of the three scheduled mandatory meetings and are in good standing, they will be allowed to resume activity. Quarterly follow-up meetings will also be required... 

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/10/07/u-arizona-temporarily-suspends-all-fraternity-activities.

Straws in the Wind - Part 492

From Inside Higher Ed: Cornell University will re-examine its sexual assault prevention and response efforts and take a “serious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life,” President Michael Kotlikoff said in a video statement... Kotlikoff called what happened to the student, known as Jane Doe, “deeply disturbing.” ...

In the weeks since Doe made her experience public in a lawsuit against Cornell and the seven men she alleges raped her, the Ivy League university’s response to sexual assault on campus—as well as its efforts to prevent sexual violence in the first place—have come under intense scrutiny from students, employees, alumni and the general public.

...Campus tensions ran high [last] Monday. Anonymous activists smashed a glass door and spray-painted “SMASH THE PATRIARCHY” and “AT CORNELL RAPISTS ARE PROTECTED PROTESTORS ARE EXPELLED” on the walls of an administrative building... “We wanted to ensure that Day Hall, the center of Cornell’s administrative function, was not able to continue business as usual,” the activists wrote in a statement...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced... that Cornell had agreed to an independent investigation of how it handled the rape allegation; Kotlikoff said... that the Board of Trustees plans to share details about that investigation this week...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2026/10/06/cornell-will-take-serious-look-role-greek-life.

Straws in the Wind - Part 477

From the Harvard Crimson: Former Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana criticized the December 2023 congressional testimony of three university presidents on campus antisemitism — including then-Harvard President Claudine Gay — saying none of them could explain what a university is for. The remarks, delivered in a lecture at Cornell University last week, are Khurana’s most direct public comments on the backlash that ended Gay’s presidency and set off two years of federal scrutiny of Harvard.

Khurana delivered the Milton R. Konvitz Memorial Lectureship in American Ideals on Thursday, an annual Cornell lecture named for the civil liberties scholar who taught there for four decades. His talk — “From Institutional Mission to Administrative Means: The Bureaucratization of Universities” — argued that universities have grown too heavy with administrators and lost institutional legitimacy. Khurana earned his bachelor’s degree at Cornell...

He named one only as a school in Connecticut — an apparent nod to Yale University that drew laughs. Between 2003 and 2021, its human resources department jumped from 11 staff to 192, and its development staff spiked from 71 to 333, while the faculty went from 610 to 675...

Khurana said rising inequality had also reshaped how universities raise money, pushing them toward a small number of very large gifts... That arrangement held, Khurana said, only as long as donors asked for nothing in return — and it has not survived the collapse in public trust. Donors now style themselves as “impact philanthropists” who want a say in how their money is spent...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/9/21/khurana-criticizes-gay-testimony/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 471

From the Cornell Daily Sun: The Accepting Responsibility program, a restorative alternative to Academic Integrity hearings for first-time offenders, was entered into the revised Code of Academic Integrity in August. It was previously a pilot program used in individual courses, but not adopted as official University policy. The program was incorporated into the Code of Academic Integrity on Aug. 24 after the Faculty Senate voted to expand the program from its pilot stage at its May 4 meeting...

The AR program is voluntary for both the faculty and students involved, and it allows faculty members aware of an academic integrity violation to opt between a formal hearing and investigation or the AR program... If a faculty member decides to offer the AR program to a student, the student receives a violation notification outlining the issue, evidence of the violation and a proposed grade penalty, according to the revised Code of Academic Integrity. The student then has three business days to decide whether to accept responsibility or request an Academic Integrity hearing. If the student accepts responsibility, they admit the violation, accept the penalty and agree to complete an AR workshop within two weeks...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/09/m4e6oo4sdu5k.

Straws in the Wind - Part 461

From the Cornell Daily Sun: The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted Cornell and four other elite universities permission to appeal a federal judge’s decision to certify a class of approximately 200,000 current and former students in a long-running antitrust lawsuit on Aug. 24. In a class action lawsuit, one or more plaintiffs file the suit on behalf of a larger group, known as the class, whose members may receive compensation based on the harm done to them. Certifying a class means allowing the contended group to proceed with litigation.

...The lawsuit, Henry et al. v. Brown University et al., alleges that 17 highly-selective universities including Cornell created an unlawful price-fixing scheme that reduced competition for financial aid and favored wealthy students under a group known as the 568 Presidents Group, which would violate the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Act federally prohibits monopolistic competition in interstate trade and commerce. Between 2023 and 2025, 12 of the accused universities settled for nearly $320 million in total, with some payments reaching Cornell students and alumni over the summer. 

Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown University and the University of Notre Dame are the five remaining defendants in the suit, which was filed in 2022. The appeals court based its decision to allow the universities to appeal on whether or not the study, a regression analysis done by the plaintiff’s expert, was “adequately analyzed” by Judge Matthew F. Kennelly, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/09/7tcslsfcnv3n.

Straws in the Wind - Part 457

From the Cornell Daily Sun: All first-year undergraduate students at Cornell will be enrolled in the University’s newly-developed AI Critical Literacy Program after its Spring 2026 launch... The two-hour long Canvas course discusses four different topics related to AI: how AI works, the ethical implications of AI, the impact of AI on education and tools to create a personal “AI policy.” The course is required for all first-year students at the beginning of the fall semester. The program aims to “help participants make more informed decisions about how and whether to use AI in general, and to inspire conversations where faculty and students can learn from each other,” according to its website.

While first-year undergraduate students are automatically enrolled in the course, other members of the Cornell community, including upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and staff, are able to self-enroll in the course for their own personal interest...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/08/cornell-launches-ai-critical-literacy-program-for-all-first-year-undergraduate-students.

Admissions

From the California Post: A father in Palo Alto, California, is declaring a victory in court after a federal judge allowed a civil rights lawsuit alleging anti-Asian bias in college admissions to move forward. Nan Zhong and his son, Stanley Zhong, filed federal lawsuits against several elite institutions, including the University of California system, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan and Cornell University. The complaints allege the universities engaged in “racially discriminatory admissions practices that disadvantage highly qualified Asian-American applicants.”

One of their cases will now proceed in part against the University of Washington after a federal judge granted the university defendants’ motion to dismiss in part and denied it in part...

A 2023 graduate of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, Stanley scored a 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT (99th percentile), held a 4.42 weighted GPA, ranked in the top 9% of his graduating class and had launched a free e-signing startup featured by Amazon Web Services. Shortly after the college rejections, Google hired Stanley as a full-time software engineer in a position that his family’s court filing says typically requires a Ph.D. or equivalent practical experience...

Spokespersons for the University of California system have previously denied the allegations, maintaining that its admissions policies strictly comply with state and federal laws prohibiting race-conscious decisions...

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/08/30/us-news/california-student-stanley-zhong-gets-legal-win-in-racial-discrimination-against-colleges/.

Note: It is unclear what the status of the UC element in the lawsuit is. But the point of the suit seems to be to open the door to "discovery" of internal documents pertaining to admissions. Such discovery will now go forward with regard to the U of Washington. For UC, it touches on the SAT issue and other admissions matters currently under review.

Straws in the Wind - Part 440

From the Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell alumni and students who received financial aid anytime between Fall 2003 and February 2024 are beginning to receive payments from a suit alleging Cornell and 16 other institutions conspired to price fix tuition and aid. The suit, Corzo et. al v. Brown University et. al, alleges the universities worked together to favor wealthy students and reduce financial aid to students through an organization known as the 568 Presidents Group — ultimately violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits entities from cooperating to limit competition. The group was named for an exemption to the Sherman Antitrust Act that allows need-blind institutions to collaborate on financial aid principles to make financial aid similar among universities.

In the lawsuit, a group of student plaintiffs alleged that the universities did not act need blind and instead considered potential admits’ ability to pay, collaborating to set their aid at similar levels — thereby limiting the choices a student might have in receiving financial aid. Overall, the plaintiffs said, aid was lower than it would have been without the collusion. On July 2, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois Matthew Kennelly ordered the first distribution of settlements to be sent out to affected alumni and students, Cornellians included. Though Cornell has not yet settled, students and alumni are receiving payments because, under antitrust law, any co-conspirator is held liable for the overall harm, regardless of if a specific university has settled or not...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/08/payments-go-out-in-financial-aid-price-fixing-suit-but-cornell-has-yet-to-settle.

===

From The Dartmouth: On July 20, 3,988 Dartmouth students and alumni began receiving settlement payments from the class action lawsuit Henry, et al. v. Brown University, et. al, in which the plaintiffs alleged that 17 universities, including Dartmouth, colluded to lower admitted students’ financial aid awards. The 17 universities comprise the 568 Presidents Group, which claimed protection from antitrust laws under Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 by devising “a set of common standards” to determine students’ financial aid, described as the “consensus approach.” All 17 members were accused of having violated the 568 Exemption’s need-blind admissions requirement by considering applicants’ financial circumstances. The group disbanded in 2022; College spokesperson Jana Barnello declined to comment on why Dartmouth joined and left the 568 group.

According to the settlement’s website, the first rounds of payments — which average $2,000 per claimant — was sent electronically on July 20. Payments for claimants who requested a physical check were mailed on July 28. On Feb. 25, 2024, Dartmouth agreed to a settlement payment of $33.75 million. Dartmouth’s settlement, along with settlement claims from nine other universities, contributed to the checks distributed to affected students this July...

Full story at https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/08/dartmouth-students-begin-receiving-payments-from-2022-financial-aid-class-action-settlement.

Defense Audit

From DefenseScoop: Defense Department leaders instructed 30 American universities and specialized technology institutes to immediately audit their academic, financial and research connections to foreign entities that the government considers too risky or hostile to engage with. The initiation of these probes, revealed [last] Monday, marks DOD’s latest move in a yearslong effort to counter what it views as adversarial influences infiltrating U.S. academia...

Full story at https://defensescoop.com/2026/08/17/pentagon-probes-30-u-s-academic-institutions-for-potential-ties-to-adversaries/.

The institutions - which include UCLA, UC-Berkeley, and UC-San Diego - are:

Bryant University, Cornell University, Drake University, Duke University, Emory University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, Northeastern State University-Tahlequah, Oklahoma State University, Penn State University, Portland State University, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Stony Brook University, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UC-San Diego, University of Cincinnati, University of Delaware, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

UC & Other Universities Support Harvard

From The Dartmouth: [Dartmouth] signed onto an amicus brief filed July 22 with the First Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Harvard University’s April lawsuit against the Trump Administration. Thirty-five other colleges and universities also signed the brief, including all Ivy League universities except Harvard. In the ongoing case, the Trump administration is appealing a September 2025 ruling in favor of Harvard after the administration froze $2.2 billion in federal grants because the university refused to comply with federal demands to make institutional changes such as reforming admissions and hiring practices, shutting down diversity, equity and inclusion practices and addressing antisemitism “or other bias” in campus programs. 

The brief argues that “even temporary cuts” to federal research funding could have “permanent effects” which “endangers” the “life-changing and history-altering innovations” that arise from “basic research” conducted at colleges and universities... Amici institutions listed advancements in “scientific progress” made possible by federal funding — such as the computer, DNA sequencing, the pacemaker and the “decades-long collaboration among academia, government and industry” which produced the internet — as “enormous long-term benefits” of university research...

Full story at https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/08/flavin-dartmouth-signs-brief-in-support-of-harvard-in-research-funding-lawsuit-against-trump-administration. 

List in image above and brief at:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca1.53667/gov.uscourts.ca1.53667.00108480602.0.pdf.

Straws in the Wind - Part 424

From the California Post: The Cornell University student who declared he’s “not interested in working for a Jew” got tossed from his parents’ $1.75 million home in Virginia — and is now sniveling online for cash. Austin Franco, who went viral for declining a job interview at NYC startup VryfID for antisemitic reasons, took to X on Wednesday, declaring, “My parents are kicking me out.” But the hater did get some good news the next day, as Cornell revealed to The Post that, unlike his disappointed parents, Alexander and Diana, the liberal upstate college won’t kick him to the curb.

The rising junior created a GiveSendGo campaign, which has already amassed more than $8,000 from twisted supporters — on top of the roughly $25,000 raised in a separate fundraiser. “I will be kicked out of my home on August 1st. Any support you can provide would be greatly appreciated, as would any advice,” the 19-year-old whined... “I do not regret anything I have done. If I were to die today, I would at least know that I did so believing in myself. Thank you, and may God be with you.” ...

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/08/01/us-news/antisemitic-cornell-student-austin-franco-begs-for-cash-after-parent-boot/.

 

Straws in the Wind - Part 420 (Bear With Us)

From the Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell has updated its Community Living Standards to include a clause banning the processing of wild animals in communal kitchens. The update follows a September incident in which students skinned and butchered a legally hunted bear in a shared kitchen in Ganędagǫ: Hall, a residence hall on North Campus. A University spokesperson confirmed that the update is a response to the Ganędagǫ: Hall incident...  

On Sept. 6, two students hunted and killed an adult black bear in the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Region 4, approximately two hours from campus, before bringing it back to Ganędagǫ: Hall to process it. Aaron Chin ’27, one of the bear skinners who revealed himself on the MeatEater Podcast, explained on the podcast that they intended to process the bear at a friend’s place, but they ran into an “emergency” and took it to the dormitory kitchen, not wanting to let the meat spoil. The skinning was met with online backlash on Reddit and Sidechat, an anonymous social media platform, as images circulated showing the bear’s remains on the shared kitchen table and meat stored in ziploc bags in the dorm’s communal fridge...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/07/ytg8jgs7qs3k.

So, was the smoke he was smelling coming from the kitchen?

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNdFs0wRxDg. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 349

From the Cornell Daily Sun: The Board of Trustees’ Ad Hoc Special Committee completed its investigation of the incident between President Michael Kotlikoff and a group of students and alumni on April 30, clearing Kotlikoff of wrongdoing and finding the actions taken by the students to be "inconsistent with University policy,” according to a statement sent to the Cornell community by the committee... Students and alumni followed Kotlikoff to his car and surrounded it, asking about free expression on campus following a debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict, hosted by the Cornell Political Union. Video footage obtained by The Sun shows that Kotlikoff reversed into one student and ran over the foot of a recent alumnus after they blocked his car.

“The Committee has found that the actions taken by these individuals on April 30th, which included following President Kotlikoff from an evening event into a parking lot and impeding his ability to leave, are inconsistent with university policies governing expressive activity and our standards for respectful conduct, safety, and the prohibition of intimidation,” the committee wrote...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/05/board-of-trustees-concludes-investigation-into-kotlikoff-car-incident-finds-students-violated-university-policy.

--

From the Cornell Daily Sun: Milton Taam ’73 received a persona non grata from the Cornell University Police Department on May 4, banning him from campus for three years. Taam received the persona non grata on the basis of trespassing after being present for the April 30 incident where President Michael Kotlikoff was questioned on free expression and drove into a student on campus. The persona non grata was issued to Taam on the basis of trespassing on Cornell property, specifically in the Day Hall Parking Lot, according to the persona non grata obtained by The Sun. Taam is prohibited from entering any grounds owned by Cornell for three years unless approved by the chief of CUPD. 

In an interview with The Sun, Taam said the trespassing charge “makes no sense.” Taam also said that the officers who delivered the persona non grata “didn’t at all” explain the charge to him. CUPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “The persona non grata order is basically a formalized notice that Cornell gives to individuals saying, ‘you do not have our permission to be here, and therefore entering onto Cornell property in the future will be treated as a trespass,’” said Prof. James Grimmelmann, Tessler family professor of digital and information law, to The Sun...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/05/alumnus-present-at-kotlikoff-car-incident-issued-persona-non-grata-3-year-ban-from-campus.