Overview
- Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, that his office has reopened the criminal investigation and will re-examine evidence for presentation to a grand jury.
- The civil complaint filed in September alleges that a Cornell student was drugged with a substance described as ketamine and repeatedly sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi house in October 2024.
- Van Houten says the allegations in the civil suit are dramatically different from the plaintiff’s first police statement in November 2024, which did not include claims of being drugged or forced to perform sexual acts.
- Cornell says it conducted separate campus investigations, excluded the Xi chapter of Chi Phi, and imposed sanctions including two expulsions, while the plaintiff’s lawyers say no one named in the complaint was arrested.
- The grand jury review could lead to criminal charges if prosecutors find new or previously unexamined evidence, and the case is renewing debate over how universities and prosecutors handle survivor interviews and follow-up investigations.