On October 19, 2024, a 20-year-old undergraduate student attending Cornell University arrived at the Chi Phi fraternity house. There, she was sexually assaulted in a group from 1:42 a.m. to 5:45 a.m.
The Investigations
A lawsuit was filed in early September 2026 against the University and fraternity members at the time by the woman who used the fake name Jane Doe, and her attorney, Thomas Guiffra. This lawsuit has led the district attorney in Central New York to reopen the investigation.
Notable evidence Doe brought forward was that of a Snapchat group chat message. In it, at 1:42 a.m., frat members who participated. Or, they were witnesses to the sexual assault alerted others of the situation, offering up people to “partake” in Jane Doe.
“Shop still open?” a member of the group chat asked.
This is evidence of how utterly inhumane and degrading the assault of Jane Doe was. They treated her as something less than human: a shop. For that, the assailants need to face reparations; a trial and hopefully jail time.
Doe alleges she was at Chi Phi to visit a friend while she was intoxicated. She alleges that two fraternity members pressured her into taking ketamine, then sexually assaulted her. Doe went to the police three weeks after the alleged rapes.
The campus police and district attorney launched their investigation first, but were no help in aiding Doe.
Giuffra also said that, other than her initial contact with the Cornell Police, she was not contacted by investigators. This included those from the Tompkins County District Attorney’s office or investigators with the training to interview rape victims.
Cornell then launched a Title IX investigation separate from the criminal investigation by campus police and the Tompkins County District Attorney’s office. A Title IX investigation is a law meant to address complaints of discrimination, harassment and/or sexual violence in educational institutions. Columbia Broadcasting System(CBS) and other outlets have gained access to summaries or quotes from the investigation. But, Cornell has not released the full transcript.
Consequences and Backlash
Cornell issued a statement on Monday, September 28, discussing the process and results of the investigation. It stated that after investigation and pursuit of federal law, the matter was sent. Then, a hearing was held where a panel heard evidence.
“At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell. None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement,” the statement said.
This was in response to Doe’s lawyers alleging that the fraternity members were allowed to mitigate their conduct. This would be by submitting essays to Cornell.
The suspicious part of Cornell’s response is in the phrase, “sole consequence”. The suspicion comes from the fact that this proves there is a high chance there were essays used for mitigation. Cornell admitted that essays were not the only consequence used, but they were allowed to be used for mitigation.
This alleged consequence sparked controversy on social media, with people posting phrases like: “Hey, Cornell, it is S.A., not essay”, referring to the abbreviation of sexual assault, and: “We are Jane Doe, standing with her in solidarity.”
Cornell Students’ Outrage
Sharing in this outrage are Cornell students, specifically those of The Cornell Daily Sun, who made excellently put, well-researched comments.
Their editorial began with the listing of the seven men named as defendants in the civil trial, whose names I will also provide because they do not deserve the protection of anonymity: Matthew Ingalls. Jonathan Newell. Winston Lee. Gillio Lopes. Diego Sarabia. Scott Norris. Scott Kretzschmar. They are otherwise known as the Cornell seven.
The editorial questions the security that Cornell claims to provide, and why the men who assaulted Jane Doe could pursue their education in a nourishing environment, but why Doe could not. The editorial questioned why Doe was not informed of the results of the Title IX investigation. It questioned who benefitted from the 23 months without the public awareness of what happened.
The editorial brought up the supposed essay mitigation offer.
“Academic ‘solutions,’ like the essays, allegedly offered to the defendants to mitigate their suspensions, are belittling to the severity of the crime. It offers no concrete, feasible solutions beyond the usual passivity of ‘communication’ and ‘understanding’ assuming we live in a world of saints and angels,” the Daily Sun said.
The Daily Sun, along with the public on social media, is accurately pointing out the flaws of Cornell’s handling of the investigation and punishment. It seems like people are aware of the situation and in favor of justice for Jane Doe.
The Importance of Believing Victims
However, that is not the case. USA Today released a story on October 2, 2026, about how the Cornell seven have not been charged, but the “mob” does not care. The “mob” refers to the public’s mass opinions on subjects, like sexual assault.
“The accused-almost always young men-were essentially stripped of their constitutional due process rights,” reporter Ingrid Jacques writes, referring to how many students were kicked off campus and had their reputations ruined during times like the ‘Me Too’ movement. This was a time when women sexually assaulted came out with their stories and people campaigned against rape culture.
Statistics and their Significance
However, around 2.5% of men face are sentenced to incarceration, meaning barely any lives are ‘ruined’ after they face sexual assault accusations. Most of the people who are assaulted have to live knowing the perpetrator is facing no consequences for their horrible actions.
The USA story also points out how Doe’s story changed since she first told it in October of 2024. This is because sexual assault is an extremely difficult topic to grapple with after someone faces it. People, like Jane Doe, often feel guilty or embarrassed to admit it because victims of sexual assault are so rarely believed or face justice, or are slut shamed. According to ctinsider, Doe came across a forum about sexual assault that made her realize she got raped, and the narrative changed for her.
Doe could have come to this conclusion sooner if she was in a more supportive environment.
“In my experience, speaking with an abuse survivor requires delicacy, understanding, and specialized training. An average University Police officer would not have these skills. It would be the role of a specially trained detective or district attorney. However, Ms. Doe was never contacted by anybody with those skills,” Doe’s lawyer, Thomas Guiffra, said.
Advocacy
What can we, as citizens not connected to the case, do to help Jane Doe? Believe her and advocate for her so that assault like this does not happen to anyone else.
“We call on Cornell to publish the standard by which a suspension in a sexual assault case is lifted. We call on them to state whether an allegation of sexual assault is eligible for emergency suspension at all under the revised Article VIII. Finally, we expect that the University shares with the complainant the outcome of her own investigation,” The Daily Sun wrote.
Along with this, New York governor Kathy Hochul is closing the loophole in the law that currently makes it hard for sexual assault survivors to claim they were mentally incapacitated during an assault if they were voluntarily intoxicated.
Help from the Government
“In what world would police learn from a victim that she had been literally gang raped… and not elevate that to the district attorney? In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved or request the full transcript?” Hochul said.
As Hochul points out, Jane Doe is facing an uphill battle where people are not providing sufficient answers and consequences. Advocating for the Cornell seven and all involved to face justice and trial for what happened to Doe will give her the support she needs to get the truth out there.
“In Cornell’s own words, in the very letter it published on Nov. 26, 2024 — “Only those who perpetrate sexual violence benefit from its concealment,” the Daily Sun wrote.
