A former student of Cornell University, Jane Doe, recently sued the school and seven other men who sexually assaulted her at a fraternity house on October 19, 2024. On the evening of her assault, Jane Doe was drunk at a sorority. Later at night, she and other sorority members went to several different bars in New York. Towards 11 p.m, she went to the Chi Phi fraternity house where she was allegedly drugged and raped by several men. While she had initially consented to sexual encounters with two men, the situation changed when more men arrived without consent while she was heavily drugged.
“It also raises the question of how many other cases of rape and harrasment get swept under the rug at other schools,” sophomore Zoë Fernandez said. “I think that this definitely affects how I and a lot of people look at Cornell.”
News about the case spread throughout the school. Jane Doe went to a hospital to get a rape kit, but all the DNA was gone by then. She reported the alleged assault the following day to the Cornell University Police Department. She was interviewed by the police and claimed to have undoubtedly been raped and drugged, however, no criminal charges were filed against the men. Instead Cornell expelled two of the men for two semesters, one had already graduated, and the others were not found to be responsible. Jane Doe dropped out of Cornell after the scandal.
“I think one of the most important things is that students should know what their options are,” chemistry teacher Ellery Jones said. “But first and foremost, they need to be able to trust that these things would be taken seriously by the administration.”
Presently, Jane Doe has taken action to sue both Cornell and the seven frat boys. Attorney General Letitia James is leading a criminal investigation after the district attorney admits to having never read the full transcript of Doe’s interview with the police. The New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, reminds the public that the state law has a loophole when one part is intoxicated, causing it hard to prosecute when the victim drank of their own volition.
“I think my perception of Cornell has definitely fallen now, but it’s really interesting reading articles about what went down and how it’s been handled,” senior Trinity Joa said. “I’m glad so much attention is being brought to rape as well as frat culture, because it’s a serious problem that we’ve let slip a bit, and more education is always needed. Still, I think it would be helpful for people to know more details about the actual case.”
Many people are supporting the student, Jane Doe, online and at the gates of Cornell’s campus. There are many social media posts captioned: “protect your daughters, educate your sons,” according to Instagram and Facebook.
Ultimately, due to this scandal, people have uncovered 1200 assault cases recorded at Cornell. How will this case affect prospective students of Cornell and the application rates? Will students be prioritizing low crime rates at universities above top tier education?
“This has opened more peoples eyes to the reality and possibility of sexual harassment in ‘safe’ environments designed to grow minds, and it was because of the bravery of one woman that this problem is finally being addressed,” Fernandez said. “The no-confidence resolution being voted on at Cornell at the end of the month gives me hope that the standards for handling assault and harassment will be raised to hold all perpetrators accountable in the future and bring justice to people who were silenced in the past.”
