Cornell faculty passes vote of no-confidence in university administration : NPR

Cornell University’s faculty is voting on a no-confidence resolution, condemning the school’s administration handling of an alleged gang rape.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

And now some news from Cornell University. Faculty members have just passed a vote of no confidence in the school’s administration over how it has handled the alleged gang rape case of a former student in 2024. Joining us now with more is Jeongyoon Han of WSKG in Ithaca, New York. Hi, Jeongyoon.

JEONGYOON HAN, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.

CHANG: OK, so tell us more about this vote. Like, how close was it?

HAN: Yeah, so 75 people voted in favor of the resolution. There were 50 people opposed plus a few abstentions. Faculty members came up with this resolution after a former student, known as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit saying she was sexually assaulted by several men at a fraternity house in 2024. Faculty seeing this news say that they were alarmed by how the university handled the initial investigation. And, you know, in recent weeks, other students and alumni have come forward saying they were sexually assaulted as well, and they say they felt that Cornell brushed their cases under the rug in order to protect its reputation. So the resolution is a response to that. It’s only one sentence, and it says that the faculty senate has no confidence in the administration to, quote, “effectively address the ongoing crisis of sexual assault at Cornell University.”

CHANG: But is this resolution basically symbolic or does it offer any concrete steps for action, you think?

HAN: It doesn’t give any action steps, so it is a symbolic measure, but faculty who support the resolution say it’s an important way to acknowledge the students, the staff and alumni who feel that trust has been broken. I spoke with Anne Marie Brady. She’s a faculty senator who cosponsored the resolution.

ANNE MARIE BRADY: It sends a important message to the Cornell community that we take these allegations very seriously and that we want to build trust both with the administration and with our colleagues and our students.

HAN: But, you know, I should note that there were faculty who were opposed to this resolution. They said that they wanted to see more concrete measures to try to address sexual misconduct on campus. And some people wanted to delay the vote until an independent investigation into Jane Doe’s case that Cornell requested came out – comes out with its findings.

CHANG: OK. Well, what could this vote mean for the university’s president, you think?

HAN: Yeah, so the university’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, has been facing criticism in recent weeks for how he handled the initial investigation of Jane Doe’s case. And, you know, this resolution doesn’t take an explicit stance on his leadership, but faculty seem to be split on whether he should step down. We just heard from Anne Marie Brady. I asked her about her thoughts on this, and she says, if the university really wants to address this problem, Cornell leaders would need to be committed to making real systemic changes. But she says she’s just not sure if the current leadership is prepared to do that.

BRADY: I suspect that at the end of the day, yes, you will need to remove key people in senior positions to advance real change.

CHANG: I mean, where does this leave the university leadership now? Like, has the university president responded?

HAN: Yeah, so the president declined to comment, but the board of trustees did issue a statement saying they are confident in his leadership as well as that of other senior officials. Kotlikoff, the president, said in previous statements he’s committed to addressing the issue of sexual assault on campus. And the school announced recently that it’s implementing stronger sexual assault support and prevention services, as well.

CHANG: That is Jeongyoon Han from WSKG. Thank you so much, Jeongyoon.

HAN: Thank you, Ailsa.

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