Critics say Cornell no-confidence resolution lacks specific remedies, policy goals

Sponsors call Cornell faculty vote a “reckoning”; delay defeated Oct. 28

Critics said the no-confidence resolution passed by Cornell University’s faculty senate lacked specific remedies and explicit policy goals, while its sponsors called the vote “a reckoning for our University.” On Oct. 28, senators rejected a push to delay the vote; the weeklong voting period began on Oct. 30.

The resolution of no confidence in the administration of President Michael Kotlikoff passed with 56% of the 135-member body in favor, according to the university. The faculty senate represents 3,025 faculty members. The vote is largely symbolic.

Proponents said the vote was a necessary response to anger voiced by students, faculty and alumni.

“This vote is a reckoning for our University,” the resolution’s sponsors, led by labor history professor Paul Ortiz, said. “It is a call for real, systemic change; not a slow-moving taskforce, weakly enforced ban on fraternity parties, or expensive PR damage control.”

The vote centers on the administration’s handling of allegations by Jane Doe, a former student who filed a lawsuit in September alleging she was gang-raped and drugged at a Cornell fraternity house in 2024. The case set off a nationwide debate over how assault allegations are handled on campuses, and the fraternity brothers Doe accused have denied her claims.

Cornell’s board remains fully confident in Kotlikoff’s leadership, board chair Anne Meinig Smalling said, calling his administration the “right leaders to thoughtfully and comprehensively address the serious problem of sexual assault on our campus.”

As the senate deliberated over the resolution throughout October, Kotlikoff defended his record to faculty members, saying the university needed stable leadership to make headway on the systemic problem of sexual assault on college campuses. Kotlikoff, 75, has been at Cornell for more than 25 years and is two years into his presidency.

A group of faculty pushed to delay the vote until former acting Attorney General Sally Yates concluded an independent review of Cornell’s policies and response to Jane Doe’s allegations. Senators voted the delay down on Oct. 28, and the senate began its weeklong voting period on Oct. 30.