A Cornell University activist has been banned from campus events for one year after university officials concluded that he participated in a confrontation that followed the school’s president to his vehicle after an Israel-Palestinian debate on campus, as reported by The New York Post.

Aiden Vallecillo, who graduated from Cornell in May, was designated persona non grata by university police on May 28, according to reports from WBNG. The sanction stems from an April 30 incident in Ithaca, New York, when a group of students surrounded Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff in a parking lot following a debate hosted by the Cornell Political Union.

The event had been co-sponsored by Cornell Progressives, Cornellians for Israel, and Students for Justice in Palestine.

According to the university, Vallecillo was among a group of students who followed Kotlikoff as he left the debate and walked toward his vehicle. Video of the incident circulated online and showed students filming the university president while demanding answers to questions about campus policies and free speech issues.

WATCH: Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff was chased and harassed by anti-Israel protesters after a campus debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The protesters then surrounded his car. Kotlikoff allegedly backed into two individuals while trying to drive away.… pic.twitter.com/oTh9f2annT

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Vallecillo was notified of the restriction five days after graduation while at his off-campus apartment.

“I think that they deliberately timed this to be at a point where students are off campus, where people are thinking about recent graduation, about post-grad plans and not about kind of how to support their fellow students,” Vallecillo told WBNG. “They’ve done it at a time when national media attention has also died off.”

Vallecillo argued that the university was punishing him for exercising free speech after Kotlikoff declined to answer questions from students following the event.

Cornell officials, however, reached a different conclusion after reviewing the incident.

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“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,” Cornell’s Board of Trustees said in its findings.

The confrontation occurred after what Kotlikoff later described as a productive and respectful debate.

Kotlikoff, who became Cornell’s president in March 2025, praised the debate itself in comments issued May 15.

“Speech only carries meaning when one can speak, and another can listen. In a community and in a democracy, any exercise of that freedom carries the responsibility to respect the same rights for others,” Kotlikoff said.

“That is why we have policies and guidelines around free expression at Cornell: to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected and that no one can shout down or silence other views. I will continue to defend those policies with every means at my disposal.”

Following the event, several students, including Vallecillo, alleged that Kotlikoff struck them with his vehicle while attempting to leave the parking lot.

Video footage from a nearby security camera and cellphone recordings showed students moving behind the president’s vehicle as he backed out of the parking space.

“Ah, you just ran over my f*cking foot,” Vallecillo shouted during one recording while pointing a camera toward the ground.

According to reports, students who claimed they were struck declined medical treatment and repeatedly refused to provide sworn statements to police investigators.

No criminal charges were filed against either the students or Kotlikoff.

Kotlikoff later said he did not realize students had positioned themselves behind his vehicle as he attempted to leave. He acknowledged that, in hindsight, he should have remained inside the vehicle and contacted law enforcement.

“Only the following afternoon did I understand that my experience would look very different in the selected video clips posted on social media and be framed in ways that I found genuinely shocking. In the moment, my goal was extricating myself from the situation safely without escalating it. In retrospect, I certainly should have remained in my car, locked it, and called the police,” Kotlikoff said.

The university’s decision closes one chapter of a controversy that drew significant attention on campus and renewed debate over free speech, protest tactics, and student conduct at one of the nation’s most prominent Ivy League institutions.

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