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A lawsuit alleging fraternity members raped a young woman in 2024 has sparked student protests, a special prosecutor investigation, and renewed scrutiny of Cornell's handling of sexual assault cases.
Cornell University is facing outrage and soul-searching over allegations that several members of a fraternity raped a young woman in 2024, according to a lawsuit that has reignited scrutiny of how the Ivy League school and law enforcement handle sexual assault complaints.
Lawsuit Alleges Cornell Mishandled Assault Case
The case became public with the filing of a civil lawsuit and the announcement that a criminal investigation would be reopened. New York state officials have appointed a special prosecutor to investigate. The lawsuit alleges fraternity members supplied the woman with alcohol, marijuana and ketamine before sexually assaulting her after she became incapacitated. The lawsuit also alleges Cornell failed to adequately punish some of the accused students and allowed some to seek reduced penalties by writing essays.
Cornell denied that essays were the only punishment meted out. The New York Times, citing internal Cornell documents, said the men all denied any wrongdoing, with some saying the sex was consensual and others denying participation. Cornell has defended its handling of the matter, saying it launched a comprehensive investigation and barred the Chi Phi fraternity involved in the alleged assault from campus. The school said it imposed a range of disciplinary measures, including expulsions.
Students Criticize Cornell's Sexual Assault Response
It did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment. At a public hearing on sexual assault organized by Cornell's Student Assembly on Thursday, speakers recounted experiences with sexual assault, broke down in tears and criticized the response of the prestigious university. The hearing was held in one of Cornell's historic halls. Cornell student Sophia Riley Sim skipped classes this week, consumed by the allegations and troubled by how her university handled the case.
Cornell has failed our community through its lack of accountability, transparency, and failure to address the state of the Cornell student body at this time, Sim, a junior, said at the hearing. There has been a lack of meaningful communication from university leadership, administrators, and faculty.
Student Assembly Seeks Greater Transparency
The Student Assembly, which represents Cornell's undergraduate students and can make proposals to the university's bodies or officers, unanimously approved a resolution calling on Cornell administrators to provide a full account of how the investigation was handled. It also asked the university to disclose any disciplinary measures imposed on the accused students, and publish annual reports on the outcomes of any future sexual misconduct cases.
Organizers asked that many of the dozens of speakers at the hearing not be identified or recorded. One student said she had worked all her life to be accepted to Cornell and now felt that it had not been worth it. Several others said they did not feel safe on the 2,300-acre campus in New York's Finger Lakes region.
Survey Shows Rise in Sexual Assault Reports
Thirty-five percent of undergraduate women reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation since entering Cornell, according to a university survey conducted in 2025 and published on its website. That figure was up from 20 per cent in 2021. Saanya Agarwal, Cornell University's student women's issues representative, said the findings of the 2025 survey on sexual assaults were unacceptable.
Clearly, this is an issue our campus and campuses throughout the United States... it's something that we're not going to accept, said Agarwal. We are going to fight. Jane Wang, a public policy major, said she had reported a sexual assault to the university and that the process caused additional distress.
In the midst of all of my mental, physical, and emotional recovery from the assault, I was also met with an abundance of paperwork, very little instruction on how to navigate it, and no follow up from our office about an outcome, she said. The Ivy League school said in a statement on its website that it could not provide full information regarding individual students and disciplinary outcomes because of restrictions imposed by privacy laws.
Students Plan Rally for Victim Protections
Our adherence to privacy laws should not be interpreted as indifference to the seriousness of the conduct at issue, the statement said. A handful of other female students told the hearing they had been sexually assaulted on Cornell's campus in the past, without sharing details. Cornell students have scheduled a rally for Monday to call for additional measures to protect victims.
The case has reignited scrutiny of how law enforcement and universities handle sexual assault complaints, with students questioning whether processes are enough to protect them.
CP24
CTVNews:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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