Cornell under a microscope over handling of frat house rape investigation

This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. Cornell University is facing angry calls from politicians, activists and the general public demanding more transparency over how it handled the investigation into a former student’s alleged gang rape. Cornell is under a microscope after a lawsuit was filed in September alleging the 20-year-old student was raped by seven men at a fraternity house in October 2024. The university has defended its actions in the investigations that ensued, saying 12 hearings were held, and suspensions and expulsions were issued as punishments for some of the accused. But advocates — and more than one elected official — say the school failed the student, who dropped out of college due to the trauma of the alleged assault. “Because she lost her access to her education, and this went unaddressed for so many years until some brave student journalists brought it back to the forefront. We already know that Cornell failed its Title IX obligations,” said Maha Ibrahim, director of Gender-Based Violence Law Programs at Equal Rights Advocates. “And lastly, just because Cornell had a Title IX process doesn’t tell us anything and actually may tell us more about how they failed than how they succeeded or attempted to succeed,” Ibrahim added. The lawsuit filed by Jane Doe, who has chosen to remain anonymous, named Cornell as one of the parties responsible due to its alleged failure to support her during the process, investigate the issue properly or take appropriate action. Doe says that on Oct. 20, 2024, she was raped by seven men after she was given drugs and alcohol at the Chi Phi frat house. Cornell recently came out with a FAQ sheet, explaining it held 12 Title IX hearings into the alleged attack. Cornell said immediately temporary suspensions and other restrictions were given to the men, and the Chi Phi frat has remained closed on campus since the incident. The university denied an online rumor the men were only made to write an essay as a disciplinary measure, saying that some received permanent expulsion but that due to federal privacy laws it could not reveal the exact punishments. Under a FAQ sheet question regarding if the school believed its response in 2024 was adequate, the institution wrote it “conducted an extensive investigation and adjudication over several months and imposed different sanctions based on the findings and circumstances involving each student.” The Ithaca, N. Y., school also created a Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault in 202,5 and recommendations from the group are now being implemented on campus. However, the university has chosen not to release the six-page victim report it gave to the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office. The district attorney said it would reopen the case but defended its position not to pursue charges in 2024 because the alleged victim did not say she was forced into any sexual acts. But CBS News obtained a transcript of Doe’s interview with campus police in which she said she was “100% certain” she was raped. Cornell told The Hill it has no new information to offer beyond the FAQ sheet. The steps Cornell has taken have been considered insufficient by multiple state and national leaders who say a transparent investigation into the university is needed. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said this week that “there are also serious questions about Cornell’s campus culture and its systems for prevention, reporting and response.” “That is why I am calling for outside counsel to conduct a transparent, independent review of the university’s response to determine whether Cornell met every obligation to protect its students and pursue justice,” Hochul said. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who represents New York in the upper chamber, said, “The allegations of sexual assault and rape at Cornell University are horrifying and deserve a thorough investigation that leaves no stone unturned. There must now be a truly independent and exhaustive investigation — not only into what happened, but into how this case was handled from the moment she came forward.” There are federal privacy laws that prevent Cornell from sharing some details about its 2024 probe, but some argue the school is still holding back. “They could provide more transparency in a general way about how the investigation was conducted, what kinds of questions were asked, what kind of evidence did they did they examine, what was the approach that they took in speaking with Jane Doe,” said Tracey Vitchers, executive director of It’s On Us, a campus sexual assault prevention organization. “I do think that the institution is being conservative in what they’re sharing because they are concerned about mitigating their own risk, right? If they do share information, it could end them up with a countersuit from one of the” accused students, she added. Advocates also contend there are two parts to a Title IX case such as this one, the investigation but then also the support for the alleged victim. Jane Doe’s lawyer said she wanted to leave campus after the alleged assault, but the school would not refund her tuition. The school has said it ““works with students who wish to take a leave of absence or withdraw. The university regularly refunds payments if students are no longer enrolled.” The Hill has reached out to Doe’s lawyer for further comment. Shiwali Patel, the senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center, said it is not known “if the school offered her any supportive measures or stay away orders so” the victim wouldn’t see her alleged perpetrators on campus. “But that’s deeply concerning because she was running into them regularly. I mean, of course, you can imagine the traumatic impact and how triggering it could be, and just make it that much more difficult to be on campus and focus on studies,” she added. Not everyone believes Cornell has failed the student. “I’m on the opposite side of whatever narrative is going on about Cornell here. Cornell would have bent over backwards to make sure that there were consequences, even to the point of violating probably some of these young men’s due process rights, if they were able to do so,” said Inez Stepman, senior legal and policy analyst at Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative women advocacy group. The case “should not be going through trial by mob,” Stepman added. “The environment in which we talk about these issues is frankly hostile to getting to the truth of them, and extremely and unnecessarily reputationally damaging for everybody involved, and it’s kind of a disgrace, honestly, the way these cases blow up, the way that the student newspaper published the names, that the whole thing, to me, is a disgraceful way to treat like a serious issue.” Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.