Cornell University frat house rape investigation reopened: What we know

Cornell University is facing a firestorm of controversy after a lawsuit filed this month alleges a student there was gang raped at a fraternity house in 2024.

The individual, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, accuses seven men of raping her over several hours at Chi Phi fraternity house. The lawsuit also includes an alleged screenshot from the night of the incident where a man messaged a group chat saying there was “free p‑‑‑‑ upstairs.”

The lawsuit has put a national spotlight on the university and investigations that took place in 2024 and how sexual assaults are treated on college campuses.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has called for an independent investigation into Cornell’s response to the allegations, and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) has denounced the school’s “culture of rape.”

The lawsuit alleges the sexual assault occurred on Oct. 20, 2024, at the Chi Phi fraternity house.

Jane Doe, who was 20 at the time, says she started drinking at her sorority house and then continued at a bar. The lawsuit said the bar knew she was underage and intoxicated and continued to serve her anyway.

Later in the night, she went over to Chi Phi to see a friend. When she got to the house, the lawsuit alleges she was pressured into more alcohol, marijuana and ketamine.

She claims seven men then sexually assaulted her over the next several hours and advertised it in a group Snapchat named “Chi Phi Actives.”

Jane Doe went to the police on Nov. 8, and criminal and administrative investigations began by the university and the district attorney’s office.

Cornell put the fraternity and the seven men she accused on interim suspensions. It also began a Title IX investigation and had at least 12 hearings over the incident.

The school says a range of punishments occurred including “expulsions and suspensions from Cornell,” and it denied an online rumor that said the men had to “write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement.” The fraternity chapter also remains barred from campus.

Local prosecutors ultimately decided not to press any charges.

Thomas Giuffra, an attorney for Jane Doe, told CNN’s Jake Tapper his client wanted to leave the university after the alleged assault, but the school refused to refund her tuition.

“She wanted to leave the university and go home and heal. And her parents, who had paid thousands and thousands of dollars for her to attend Cornell, tried to get their money back,” Giuffra said.

“Cornell said, ‘No, you have to stay in school.’ So she spent an entire semester on the campus where she saw these guys on a fairly regular basis,” he added.

A spokesperson for Cornell did not address the accusation directly but said the university “works with students who wish to take a leave of absence or withdraw. The university regularly refunds payments if students are no longer enrolled.”

The lawsuit goes after Cornell, the fraternity, the defendant’s own sorority, the men involved and the bar that served her.

The local district attorney’s office has said it would reopen the case but defended its position not to pursue the matter further in 2024.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said the statement Jane Doe gave in November 2024 “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped.”

Van Houten said Jane Doe described her participation in the events as “voluntary,” so his office did not pursue charges.

“Furthermore, I have never been contacted by Jane Doe’s attorneys. Not to inform me the original statement was inaccurate and not to ask me to reconsider our decision. Rather, I reached out to Jane Doe’s attorneys after the lawsuit was filed to understand the discrepancy between the original statement and the lawsuit’s allegations and the proper path forward in light of the lawsuit’s allegations,” he said.

Van Houten said the case will be reopened and his office is preparing to present it to a grand jury.

“Upon a vote by the Grand Jury to indict any or all of the individuals involved, this office will prosecute the charges zealously and to the fullest extent of the law,” he concluded.

In an interview with The New York Times, Giuffra said he is skeptical of Van Houten’s efforts.

“I’m a little concerned that his endgame is to do this halfhearted attempt to present this case at the grand jury, to just prove he believed what he thinks he was right in the first place,” he said. “Which is just frightening when you think about it.”

“Given this appalling response from university administration, I have no choice but to declare a new policy directive and corresponding Common Council resolution, implementing an immediate moratorium on all student event and special event permits, including, but not limited to Greek life and other student group gatherings, until such time that the University conducts an accounting of its protocols to prevent and prosecute crimes of sexual violence and publicly releases new standards and practices to keep our community safe,” Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo said in a statement.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) said she is grateful the district attorney is reopening the case.

“Well, I’m certainly grateful that the DA is reopening the investigation. I’ve just seen the public reports, and, obviously, these allegations are extremely serious and horrific. And as a parent with a kid in college, this is probably something that every parent in America wants addressed,” she told NPR.

Hochul said the culture at Cornell and its reporting systems all need to be thoroughly investigated.

“But there are also serious questions about Cornell’s campus culture and its systems for prevention, reporting and response,” the governor said. “That is why I am calling for outside counsel to conduct a transparent, independent review of the university’s response to determine whether Cornell met every obligation to protect its students and pursue justice.”