Overview
- A woman using the name Jane Doe says she was drugged with ketamine and sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024, and she filed a civil suit that went public in mid‑September.
- Disciplinary summaries obtained by reporters this week show a range of Title IX sanctions: two students were expelled, several were suspended or banned from campus, and others received training and reflective essays.
- The Tompkins County district attorney declined to bring charges in 2024, but Governor Kathy Hochul designated New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to reopen the criminal inquiry, and defense lawyers have sought her recusal.
- Cornell’s board named former deputy attorney general Sally Yates to lead an independent review of the university’s investigations, support for survivors, disciplinary procedures and fraternity oversight while hundreds of students protest for greater transparency.
- The case highlights limits of university Title IX processes—privacy rules and lower civil‑service standards can produce confidential, mixed sanctions without criminal charges—and could prompt policy changes or new prosecutions depending on the special prosecutor’s findings.