Overview
- A plaintiff using the judicial pseudonym Jane Doe says she was drugged with ketamine and raped by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024, and her September complaint reignited public scrutiny of how the case was handled.
- Tompkins County prosecutor Matthew Van Houten has reopened the criminal investigation and Governor Kathy Hochul has designated Attorney General Letitia James to assume oversight of the probe.
- Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced an independent external review led by a former senior Justice Department official to examine the university’s response and the role of fraternities on campus.
- Thousands of students and campus groups have staged a week of protests this week demanding accountability, better survivor support and policy change, with some demonstrations resulting in property damage reported by student media.
- Cornell data show more than 1,200 reports of sexual assault, intimate-partner violence and harassment from 2018–2024, a backdrop that could push wider reforms in campus reporting, discipline and policing if investigators or prosecutors pursue charges.