A night at the fraternity

On October nineteen, twenty twenty-four, a twenty-year-old Cornell undergraduate arrived at the Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, New York, close to midnight. She had been drinking and was there to see a friend.

What she remembers

The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, recalled a threesome with her friend and another fraternity member. She took ketamine but could not remember where or when. One man repeatedly grabbed at her genital area.

The knock on the door

A third fraternity member entered the room, introduced himself, yanked Jane Doe toward him and kissed her without consent. The second man began groping her again. They began to have a threesome.

The Snapchat message

Around one forty-two a.m., the second man sent a message in the fraternity's Snapchat group called Chi Phi Actives, alerting members to the free pussy they could find upstairs. Later, members asked if the shop was still open.

“free pussy”

More men arrive

Four more fraternity brothers entered the room. Jane Doe hid under the bedcovers. She remembered snorting a line of ketamine off one man's erect penis and felt extremely high after being given more ketamine.

The smaller room

Jane Doe's friend and another fraternity member took her to a smaller room where she engaged in a threesome involving oral and vaginal sex. It continued until five forty-five a.m., when she asked them to stop, and they did.

An apology and minimization

Two days later, one fraternity brother apologized via text for how things went down. Jane Doe replied that her memory was super clouded but she reckoned that none of the sexual stuff was illegal. She said she would like to see him again.

“super clouded”

The lawsuit names seven

Jane Doe filed a lawsuit on September fourteenth, naming seven Chi Phi members and alleging they drugged, raped, and assaulted her. She also named Cornell, the fraternity, and her own sorority for failing to prevent or redress the alleged abuse.

The Cornell Daily Sun names them

The Cornell Daily Sun, the student newspaper, pointedly and repeatedly named the seven accused assailants, now known as the Cornell Seven. Their photos, labelled with their names, circulated widely on social media.

The editorial board speaks

On September twenty-first, the Cornell Daily Sun's editorial board warned the accused men: We know who you are and we refuse to let you benefit from the University's concealment. It called for independent criminal investigations.

“We know who you are and we refuse to let you benefit from the University's concealment”

The district attorney declines

Campus police made no arrests. District Attorney Matthew Van Houten initially declined to pursue charges against the seven fraternity brothers. But after public outcry, Van Houten announced on Monday that he is reopening the criminal investigation.

Van Houten casts doubt

Van Houten maintained that the events as Jane Doe recounted them to campus police two years ago do not constitute a crime. He appeared to cast doubt on her credibility, saying her sworn statement provides a different narrative than her lawsuit.

The missing transcript

CBS News New York reported that Jane Doe told campus police, regarding at least one sexual encounter, I can say with one hundred percent confidence I was raped and that she was completely and totally incapacitated. These declarations do not appear in Van Houten's abridged version.

“I can say with 100% confidence I was raped”

New York's intoxication loophole

New York State requires evidence of forcible compulsion or incapacity to consent for rape charges. If an accuser was voluntarily intoxicated, she cannot argue she was mentally incapable of consent. In June, the State Senate passed a bill to close this loophole.

Cornell's Title IX response

Cornell placed the fraternity and its seven accused members on suspension in November twenty twenty-four and commenced a Title IX probe. Later, Cornell barred Chi Phi from campus. Only two of the accused members were expelled; others received lesser punishments.

Jane Doe drops out

Jane Doe dropped out of school. According to her attorney Thomas Giuffra, she tried to leave during the fall twenty twenty-four semester, but Cornell refused to refund her tuition. Giuffra told CNN that her life has been destroyed.

“Her life has been destroyed”

State officials respond

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decried the culture of rape that pervades Cornell and other elite institutions. Governor Kathy Hochul called for an independent review of Cornell's response. Mayor Robert G. Cantelmo issued a scathing statement and implemented an immediate moratorium on student event permits.

Cornell's defensive statement

Kyle Kimball, Cornell's vice-president for university relations, affirmed that the university conducted a thorough Title IX investigation resulting in expulsions and suspensions. He warned that questioning whether consequences were adequate will make survivors feel less safe and perpetuate underreporting.

A pattern of protection

In April, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff backed his car into two student protesters and drove away. The board of trustees blamed the students entirely. Meanwhile, peaceful pro-Palestinian protests led to arrests, criminal referrals, and suspensions of demonstrators.

Chalk speaks where protests are banned

Cornell's restrictions on expressive activity include bans on amplified sound, heckling, and postering. Students responded with sidewalk chalk reading Cornell Protects Rapists and Protesters Suspended Rapists Go Free. These messages document the university's contradictory priorities.

“CORNELL PROTECTS RAPISTS”