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World

Cornell agrees to independent probe of rape case handling as pressure mounts

Cornell University has agreed to an independent outside investigation of its handling of a 2024 alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity, after Governor Kathy Hochul intervened and the prosecutor said he had never seen a campus-police interview transcript in which the accuser said she was raped.

By Sarah Whitfield · · 2 min read

Photo: The Edu Ledger

Cornell University has agreed to an independent outside investigation of its initial response to allegations that seven Chi Phi fraternity members gang-raped a fellow student in October 2024, after New York Governor Kathy Hochul intervened on Wednesday.

“I spoke with Cornell’s president today, and the university has agreed to bring in outside counsel for an independent investigation,” Hochul wrote on X, Yahoo News reported. “This culture has to stop.”

The announcement came a day after CBS New York published excerpts of a Nov. 14, 2024, interview transcript with campus police in which the accuser, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, said: “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who announced Monday he was reopening the criminal case and taking it to a grand jury, told the network he had never seen the transcript before. “I’m going to follow up on this because this is news to me,” he said.

Van Houten also explained why his office declined charges in 2024: Jane Doe’s sworn statement then “described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual.” Cornell says it suspended the chapter, ran a Title IX investigation, and that its police shared a “lengthy investigation report” with the DA’s office.

Pressure in Albany is building. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced Wednesday he had tasked lawmakers with drafting legislative recommendations by the end of the year. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who chairs the Senate Codes Committee, pointed to a “loophole” in New York law, under which voluntary intoxication does not legally constitute inability to consent. A bill by Sen. Nathalia Fernandez to make sex with someone too intoxicated to consent illegal passed the Senate this year but failed in the Assembly. Assemblymember Pat Burke said Wednesday he plans to introduce legislation holding institutions accountable for covering up serious crimes.

The 101-page civil lawsuit, filed Sept. 16, alleges Doe was drugged and assaulted over several hours on the night of Oct. 19, 2024. No criminal charges have been announced. The Xi chapter of Chi Phi remains barred from campus, and two of the seven men were expelled, according to Doe’s lawyer.

Sources

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