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World

Cornell president breaks silence on 2024 fraternity rape case, calls allegations "deeply disturbing"

Cornell president Michael Kotlikoff has broken his silence on the alleged 2024 gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house, calling the allegations "deeply disturbing" in a Saturday video statement and backing a special prosecutor and independent outside review of the university's handling of the case.

By James Calloway · · 2 min read

Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff has broken his silence on the alleged 2024 gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house, calling Jane Doe’s allegations “deeply disturbing” in a video statement released Saturday, CNN reported.

“This is a defining moment in Cornell’s history,” Kotlikoff said, adding that he supports Governor Kathy Hochul’s decision to turn the criminal investigation over to New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor. He said he welcomes an independent review by an outside law firm into Cornell’s handling of the case, which the university’s board will announce next week, and acknowledged the university must “do better” to prevent future sexual violence.

The statement comes as records obtained by the New York Times sharpen scrutiny of the original investigation. According to the Times, the Tompkins County District Attorney’s office declined on November 25, 2024 to review any additional evidence campus police had gathered beyond Doe’s six-page signed statement. Prosecutors did not express interest because they had decided that “Criminal charges would not be pursued in this case,” a Cornell police investigator wrote in a note documenting the call. Van Houten told the Times the extra records were “not pertinent to our analysis.”

Separately, the Associated Press reviewed disciplinary records filed in court this week by a lawyer for one of the accused men, who is seeking to overturn Cornell’s punishment. The 99-page report details Cornell’s Title IX inquiry: 50 interviews with 32 witnesses and 12 days of hearings. Doe told investigators she “felt like bait” while the attackers were “like lions around me.” One man accused of snorting drugs off her body denied the account, telling investigators he entered for a “wellness check” lasting no more than five minutes; the panel cleared him of assault but found him responsible for attempted sexual exploitation, disbelieving his account.

Campus reaction intensified over the weekend. Cornell canceled all social fraternity events, internal communications obtained by The Cornell Daily Sun show, and student groups plan a Monday protest to “hold our university responsible,” according to CNN. The Cornell chapter of the American Association of University Professors condemned the administration’s “failures.”

Hochul vowed to press for changes to New York sexual assault law so voluntary intoxication does not bar prosecution: “Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape. Period,” she said.

Sources

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