Overview
- Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Friday appointing New York Attorney General Letitia James to lead an active criminal investigation and to present evidence to a grand jury if prosecutors find cause.
- The move followed a civil lawsuit and newly reported interview material that say a student was drugged and gang‑raped at the Chi Phi house on October 19, 2024 and that a campus‑police transcript records the accuser saying she was “100 percent” confident she had been raped.
- Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten initially declined to charge the seven men in 2024 after reviewing a police summary that described sexual contact as at times voluntary, but he has reopened the probe and says his office will cooperate with the attorney general.
- Cornell’s Title IX process resulted in expulsions, suspensions and a chapter suspension for Chi Phi, and university and state officials say parts of the campus‑police record were not included in materials first reviewed by prosecutors.
- The attorney general has said the investigation may take months, could include witness interviews and a grand jury, and may prompt changes to New York law on intoxication and consent while the named defendants publicly deny wrongdoing and the plaintiff continues to report long‑term harms.