What to know about the Cornell fraternity rape allegations
by The Washington Times AI News Desk · The Washington TimesA former Cornell University student has sued the school, a fraternity chapter and seven of its former members, alleging she was drugged and gang-raped at the Chi Phi house in Ithaca, New York, in October 2024. The lawsuit, filed Sept. 16 in Manhattan under the name Jane Doe, has since prompted a renewed criminal investigation, a special prosecutor and an independent review of how the university handled her report.
In the suit, the woman alleges she went to the fraternity house already intoxicated, that two members pressured her into taking what they said was ketamine, and that more men then entered the room and assaulted her until about 5:45 a.m., according to CBS News. The complaint cites a message sent to a fraternity group chat at 1:42 a.m. that crudely suggested a woman upstairs was available for sex. She accuses Cornell of breach of contract and negligence and seeks unspecified damages.
Attorneys for at least two of the accused have denied wrongdoing. One said “accusations are not proof.” None of the men has been charged with a crime. Disciplinary records that a lawyer for one of the accused filed in a separate lawsuit, reviewed by the Associated Press, show the woman and several men gave similar accounts of drug use and sexual activity at the house but differed sharply on whether it was consensual. A university hearing panel found she initially consented to sex with one man and a friend, according to the records.
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The woman reported the incident to Cornell police in November 2024. Campus police gave Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten her sworn statement, Cornell says, and his office declined to bring charges. In a Sept. 28 statement, Mr. Van Houten said her 2024 statement “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped” and described the drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary. Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, said her initial report was “not materially different” from the lawsuit, Courthouse News Service reported. A transcript of her police interview, obtained by CBS News, shows she distinguished an earlier consensual encounter from what she says followed and told the investigator she was confident she had been raped. Mr. Van Houten said he had never seen that account.
Cornell ran a separate disciplinary process under Title IX that ended in a range of sanctions, including expulsions and suspensions, the university says. President Michael Kotlikoff told student leaders that two of the accused were expelled, two were suspended for at least two semesters and one had graduated before any punishment could be imposed, CBS News reported. Cornell disputes claims that any student faced only an essay assignment, and says federal privacy law bars it from releasing individual outcomes. The chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor, saying she had lost faith in Mr. Van Houten’s ability to handle the case, the AP reported. Mr. Van Houten has said he supports the appointment, the Cornell Daily Sun reported, and Cornell has agreed to bring in outside counsel for an independent investigation. The district attorney and the university also disagree over whether campus police gave prosecutors a screenshot of the group chat. Cornell says it did, while Mr. Van Houten has said in an interview that he never received it, the Sun reported. President Trump, asked about the appointment Friday, said the accused “won’t get a fair shake.” As special prosecutor, Ms. James can present evidence to a grand jury if warranted, the governor said.
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