A former Cornell University student who has accused seven male students of raping her at a fraternity house said in a letter to faculty that the university's president questioned why she waited to report the alleged assault, an account the school disputes as faculty prepare to vote on his leadership.3,5
The student, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, wrote that she felt "unsupported and disbelieved" after learning of the president's remark. Her account of the conversation is secondhand. In the letter, she said her sorority president told her that Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff's "initial response was along the lines of, 'Why did she wait so long to report it?'" The two-page letter, dated Oct. 14, was sent through her attorney and obtained by the BBC and The Associated Press.3,5
Cornell disputed that account. A university spokesperson said the second-hand description of Kotlikoff's question was incorrect, "based on a documented first-hand account." The spokesperson said his question "was directed at bystanders who did not use Cornell's anonymous tip line, despite ongoing social media activity about the incident in October 2024." The spokesperson added, "He was not questioning Jane Doe's reporting."3,5
The two accounts also differ on when the exchange took place. PBS reported that the sorority leader spoke with Kotlikoff in November 2024, while the BBC reported that the letter places the question at a January 2025 meeting. Cornell's dean of faculty, Chris Schaffer, wrote in an email to faculty senators that another official present at the conversation recalled Kotlikoff asking why bystanders had not reported the alleged assault sooner. Schaffer said he waited to share the letter until he could obtain another account, and that he forwarded it to university lawyers, who passed it to an independent team investigating Cornell's response.3,5
Schaffer said he opposed a proposed no-confidence resolution because it identified no specific failures or fixes, but he acknowledged faculty frustration. "The anger in our community is justified and I share it," he said.3
Kotlikoff did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Doe's letter. The BBC reported that staff who questioned him at a faculty senate meeting last Wednesday said they were "deeply disturbed" by his handling of the case. In that session, Kotlikoff pointed to changes the university had made after Doe's allegations, including a ban on fraternity parties. "We are all extraordinarily upset by the events at Cornell in October of 2024," he said.5,3
The faculty dispute is taking place against a broader backlash. The alleged assault, which occurred in October 2024 at a Chi Phi fraternity party, has prompted campus protests, renewed scrutiny of the university's disciplinary system and a state investigation. Cornell has suspended fraternity parties and brought in former Justice Department official Sally Yates to review how it handled sexual assault claims. Doe reported the alleged assault to campus police on Nov. 8, about three weeks after the party, according to the BBC. The local district attorney, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, declined to bring charges at the time, citing insufficient evidence, and the case has since been reopened. No criminal charges have been filed against the accused men, all of whom have denied the allegations.2,3,5
In a separate development, a court filing signed Tuesday by Doe's attorney, Thomas Giuffra, dismissed Orazio Petito, identified in the original complaint as president of the fraternity at the time, from Doe's civil lawsuit with prejudice. Petito's attorney, Eric Bernstein, told ABC News the change was the "right outcome." "My client deserved to be released from this case," he said. "They had the wrong … guy and justice was served as far as Mr. Petito was concerned." Van Houten has said the allegations in the civil suit differed sharply from her original account. At least three of the accused men say Doe was the aggressor and that she did not obtain their consent, and one, Matthew Ingalls, says Doe sexually assaulted him and the university did nothing about his claim.2
Text messages reported by The Daily Wire show that two days after the alleged assault, Doe told one of the men she accuses that she loved him and described the sexual activity as "not illegal," adding, "our body our choice." Last week, New York Justice Phaedra Perry-Bond, who is presiding over the civil suit, denied a gag order request from defendant Diego Sarabia. She called the request a "side show" intended to "muddy the waters," and left protection of the defendants from threats, harassment and doxxing to their attorneys. PBS reported that messages seeking comment were left for Doe's lawyers, Giuffra and W. Whitney Seals.2,3
Polymarket, an online prediction market, has removed a contract that let users bet on whether any of the seven accused men would be charged with a felony sex crime. More than $450,000 had been wagered on the question since it opened Sept. 30, and it had been scheduled to close Jan. 31. The company's U.S. exchange is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which bans trading related to "activity that is unlawful under Federal or State law."6
The case has also drawn political responses. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the accuser had been "failed" by local police and county prosecutors who did not bring charges, and she appointed state Attorney General Letitia James to take over the investigation. James posted on social media that "what this young woman has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable," adding, "To her, and to all survivors: you're not alone. We stand with you." Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said there was "a culture of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia" in elite institutions across the country. Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said Cornell "protected her abusers, letting them off with a slap on the wrist."1
Saritha Komatireddy, a Republican running for New York attorney general against James, said in a debate that James had "screwed this one up by prejudging it." She said the investigation "requires someone who approaches the case with fairness, impartiality and integrity." Commentators Megyn Kelly and Ben Shapiro have also questioned the accuser's account.1
The case has also opened a debate among progressives over New York's laws on intoxication and consent. Advocates for women and for victims of sexual assault want the state to close what they call the "voluntary intoxication loophole," which they say makes it harder to prosecute abusers when victims willingly consumed drugs or alcohol. They argue that false rape allegations are rare and that these crimes are underpunished. Other progressive constituencies, including figures in New York's Black political establishment, public defenders, criminal justice reform supporters and members of the Democratic Socialists of America, are skeptical of the criminal justice system. They argue that Black and other nonwhite men are often falsely accused, and that a new tool for prosecutors could be used to jail men in cases where consent is difficult to establish.1
The Faculty Senate is expected to resume debate on the no-confidence resolution on Oct. 28 before holding an electronic vote. In her letter, Doe said she wanted faculty to have information that might be relevant to their deliberations. "My intention is not to prescribe how the Senate should interpret this account, but rather to provide information that its members may wish to consider or investigate further," she wrote. She said she wrote so that faculty "can make an informed choice" before the vote.3,5
