Cornell University boss breaks silence over rape case uproar

Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff said he was “deeply disturbed” by a student’s 2024 rape allegation that has drawn national outrage.

“My heart aches when I think of what she experienced,” Kotlikoff said in a video message released on Saturday, saying the university must “do everything we can to prevent what happened to Jane Doe” from happening again.

Lawyers for a Jane Doe last month filed a civil lawsuit against the Ivy League university, its leaders, the Chi Phi fraternity, her sorority and seven men, saying she was given drugs and alcohol and assaulted.

The men have largely remained silent. Lawyers for at least three of them have issued statements denying criminal wrongdoing. The university has defended aspects of its handling of the cases, while the president acknowledged on Saturday it could “do better”.