‘Is this too little, too late?’: Cornell students on school’s response to gang-rape allegations

In the wake of a lawsuit over an alleged gang-rape that took place at Cornell University in 2024, the school announced this week that it would be suspending parties and social gatherings at fraternity houses for the remainder of the academic year.

Last month, a former student, referred to in court documents by the pseudonym “Jane Doe”, filed a civil lawsuit against multiple parties, including the university, accusing seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity of sexually assaulting her at a party at their fraternity house on campus in October 2024. All of the men named in the lawsuit have denied wrongdoing, and none have been criminally charged.

In a letter to the Cornell community, the school’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, said that the ban on frat parties will be “provide time for a thorough review of fraternity life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue”.

The Guardian spoke with several undergraduate students at Cornell about the university’s decision, as well as their handling of the alleged assault and its aftermath. The measure, which Kotlikoff referred to as an effort to “strengthen campus safety”, was announced on 13 October in a letter to the Cornell community. While some students welcome the ban on frat parties, others argue that the move is an attempt by the administration to avoid a perception of culpability in the case.

When asked for comment, Cornell referred the Guardian to Kotlikoff’s letter to the community from 13 October, in which he said: “I have spent the past weeks listening to students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and trustees, who have shared their feelings of deep connection and sympathy with Jane Doe, anger and frustration that this could happen at Cornell, and outrage at the broader prevalence of sexual violence against women in our society. These conversations, and campus protests, have underscored my deep conviction that we must do better: that the time for meaningful and lasting change at Cornell, and at campuses across the country, is now.”

A sophomore at Cornell’s school of industrial and labor relations, who asked to remain anonymous, supports the school’s latest decision. She acknowledged that Greek life “wasn’t something that really added to my experience at Cornell” and that the ban was “so necessary in light of Jane Doe’s experience”.

The student added that while she is not in Greek life herself, many of her friends are. “I think it’s been upsetting for people that are super involved in Greek life,” she said, noting that some members of Greek life feel that they’re being penalized for the actions of others. They “think that [the ban is] somewhat unnecessary because this happened two years ago, and it’s a completely different group of people”.

“I have many friends that have opposing viewpoints,” she said.

Some students argued that the opposition is the point, and believe that the administration’s decision was intended to further a divide between the student body.

“The fact that [the administration] thinks a one-year moratorium will solve this is, I wouldn’t say it’s misguided. I would say it is purposefully manipulative to the student body,” said Jack Huber, a sophomore at the school of industrial and labor relations and member of Students for a Democratic Cornell (SDC), an independent, student-run organization that advocates for free speech on campus. “I believe it’s a very intentional choice, because what it’s done is create a sentiment that many students are angry, and are blaming protesters for their inability to party.

“Cornell is not ready to commit itself to institutional change, and is using this moratorium to essentially scapegoat fraternities when this is a campus-wide issue,” he added. Huber added that issues of sexual assault will remain until the school has implemented an independent judicial system, which was previously in effect from 1969 to 2020.

Huber said that school’s current judiciary process operates as “a tool to be used to sweep incidences of sexual violence under the rug because they harm Cornell’s reputation, and persecute protesters because they harm the board of trustees’ investments”.

“That’s the system that allowed essays to get written by two of the [Cornell 7]” he said.

SDC is demanding that the administration rewrite a portion of its student code of conduct to require independent hearings and minimum sanctions for sexual assault.

Darius Pierce, a sophomore at Cornell’s college of architecture, art and planning, remembered hearing about the incident, which had resulted in Chi Phi being disbarred and removed from campus during his first few weeks of college in 2025.

“I was walking past the Chi Phi house, heading back to campus, and a person in my group pointed out [the house] and I asked why I’ve never heard of them, and they explained that there was an issue with ketamine and assault at that house, and that was it,” he said.

“No one ever expanded upon that. I hadn’t heard anything about it until the story broke with the Cornell Sun.”

Like Huber, Pierce believes that the administration’s decision to ban frat parties is an attempt to “cover up for their own faults and own mistakes”.

“They’re trying to make it seem like they’re actually responding to [the alleged assault] and taking action instead of addressing the real issue,” he said.

Following the alleged assault, Cornell issued a statement in November 2024 informing the community that there would be an internal investigation while the Cornell University Police Department continued their criminal investigation. Per Jane Doe’s lawsuit, Cornell University Police did not end up pursuing criminal charges. The investigation was reopened in September 2026 in response to public outrage. None of the defendants in the civil lawsuit have been charged and all have denied wrongdoing.

Pierce, who rushed a fraternity but decided not to join one, also spoke of the endemic culture of drinking and substance use he has witnessed within Greek life at Cornell. He recalled an experience at a fraternity party where “this group of girls kept screaming that it was their first time doing coke at that frat party, and that these frat guys were just handing out lines of coke like candy”.

“If you go to a frat, you plan on drinking,” Pierce said. “But it seems like for women specifically who go to these frats, they’re kind of pressured to do more.”

The Guardian previously reported on how Jane Doe’s lawsuit has reignited debates over Greek life and the relationship between fraternity parties, drinking culture and sexual assault. A 2019 survey from the Association of American Universities revealed that a quarter of undergraduate women reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual conduct, with fraternities being the setting where it was most likely to occur.

At Cornell, 35% of undergraduate women reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact since arriving at school, according to a 2025 survey conducted by the university.

Saya Taylor, a sophomore who is also a member of SDC, believes that the frat ban is a “Band-Aid” solution to a much deeper problem. “They’re trying to give the appearance that they are changing when they are not,” she said. “Cornell University does not want this to [have] a lasting impact.”

In addition to the fraternity ban, Kotlikoff also announced that the university would be adding a case manager to Cornell’s office of civil rights to help those who report sexual misconduct at the school navigate the processes. He also pledged that Cornell would work with the New York state police and allow their trauma-informed criminal investigators, who are independent of Cornell, to investigate allegations.

The sophomore believes that this week’s announcement is a step in the right direction. “For the vast majority, people like me, we want justice and we want the administration to change the structural way that they address sexual assault,” she said.

But others need more convincing.

“Is this too little, too late? The answer there is a resounding yes,” said Huber. “Jane Doe never got the justice she deserved in the moment.”