Cornell responds to Jane Doe’s letter saying she felt ‘unsupported’ by university president

A woman known as Jane Doe who accused seven men at Cornell University of sexual assault at a fraternity house sent a letter to the school saying she “felt unsupported and disebelieved” by the Ivy League institution’s president, Michael Kotlikoff.

Cornell has responded to the letter, first obtained by The New York Times , and sent earlier this month to the Cornell faculty senate to share information she believed “may be relevant” to the panel as it considers a no-confidence vote in Kotlikoff’s administration.

In the letter dated October 14, Jane Doe wrote what she describes as a “second-hand account” of a conversation Kotlikoff had with the then-president of her sorority, Tri Delta, which occurred “shortly after” she reported her sexual assault to Cornell in 2024.

“After the conversation she shared with me, with concern, that President Kotlikoff’s initial response was along the lines of, ‘Why did she wait so long to report it?’” Jane Doe wrote in the letter. “She interpreted his question as an expression of doubt in the veracity of my story.”

In a statement to CBS News on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Cornell described Jane Doe’s account of the question asked by Kotlikoff as “incorrect, based on a documented first-hand account.”

“The question ‘why did it take so long for the assault to be reported’ was directed at bystanders who did not use Cornell’s anonymous tip line, despite ongoing social media activity about the incident in October 2024,” the spokesperson said. “He was not questioning Jane Doe’s reporting.”

Cornell has faced public scrutiny over its handling of the investigation into the former student’s alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024 after a lawsuit was filed in September, shining a spotlight on how sexual assault cases are handled on college campuses.

The lawsuit filed by Jane Doe, who chose to remain anonymous, named the university as one of the responsible parties for allegedly failing to support her during the process, investigate the allegation properly and take appropriate action.

Prosecutors will take a second look at the case after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) ordered an independent investigation into Cornell’s response to the allegations, saying there were “serious questions about Cornell’s campus culture and its systems for prevention, reporting and response.”