At Cornell, rape allegations spark outrage, soul-searching over campus culture

Cornell University student Sophia Riley Sim skipped classes this week, consumed by allegations in a lawsuit that several members of a fraternity raped a young woman in 2024 and troubled by how her university handled the case.

"Cornell has failed our community through its lack of accountability, transparency, and failure to address the state of the Cornell student body at this time," Sim, a junior, said at a public hearing on sexual assault organised by Cornell's Student Assembly on Thursday (1 October).

"There has been a lack of meaningful communication from university leadership, administrators, and faculty.

The Ivy League school has defended its handling of the matter, saying it launched a comprehensive investigation and barred the Chi Phi fraternity involved in the alleged assault from campus. The school said it imposed a range of disciplinary measures, including expulsions.

It did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

The hearing, held in one of Cornell's historic halls, came days after the allegations became public with the filing of a civil lawsuit and the announcement that a criminal investigation would be reopened.

The case has reignited scrutiny of how law enforcement and universities handle sexual assault complaints, with students questioning whether processes are enough to protect them. It has also drawn the attention of New York state officials, who have appointed a special prosecutor to investigate.

Feeling unsafe
At the Assembly hearing, speakers recounted experiences with sexual assault, broke down in tears and criticised the response of the prestigious university.

The Student Assembly - which represents Cornell's undergraduate students and can make proposals to the university's bodies or officers - unanimously approved a resolution calling on Cornell administrators to provide a full account of how the investigation was handled. It also asked the university to disclose any disciplinary measures imposed on the accused students, and publish annual reports on the outcomes of any future sexual misconduct cases.

Organisers asked that many of the dozens of speakers at the hearing not be identified or recorded.

One student said she had worked all her life to be accepted to Cornell and now felt that it had not been worth it. Several others said they did not feel safe on the 2,300-acre campus in New York's Finger Lakes region.

Thirty-five percent of undergraduate women reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation since entering Cornell, according to a university survey conducted in 2025 and published on its website. That figure was up from 20% in 2021.

"We are going to fight"
The lawsuit alleges fraternity members supplied the woman with alcohol, marijuana and ketamine before sexually assaulting her after she became incapacitated. It also alleges Cornell failed to adequately punish some of the accused students and allowed some to seek reduced penalties by writing essays. Cornell denied that essays were the only punishment meted out.

The New York Times, citing internal Cornell documents, said the men all denied any wrongdoing, with some saying the sex was consensual and others denying participation.

Cornell students have scheduled a rally for Monday to call for additional measures to protect victims.
Jane Wang, a public policy major, said she had reported a sexual assault to the university and that the process caused additional distress.

"In the midst of all of my mental, physical, and emotional recovery from the assault, I was also met with an abundance of paperwork, very little instruction on how to navigate it, and no follow up from our office about an outcome," she said.

The Ivy League school said in a statement on its website that it could not provide full information regarding individual students and disciplinary outcomes because of restrictions imposed by privacy laws.

"Our adherence to privacy laws should not be interpreted as indifference to the seriousness of the conduct at issue," the statement said.

A handful of other female students told the hearing they had been sexually assaulted on Cornell's campus in the past, without sharing details.

Saanya Agarwal, Cornell University's student women's issues representative, said the findings of the 2025 survey on sexual assaults were unacceptable.

"Clearly, this is an issue our campus and campuses throughout the United States... it's something that we're not going to accept," said Agarwal. "We are going to fight."