A closed fraternity house at Cornell University has become the centre of a renewed US debate over sexual violence on college campuses after a 101-page civil lawsuit alleged that seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity sexually assaulted a 20-year-old student over several hours in October 2024. The lawsuit, filed on 16 September 2026 by the lawyer representing the student, also names Cornell University and the Tri-Delta sorority as defendants and has brought fresh scrutiny to how the university and criminal authorities handled the allegations.
The house, a large building near the edge of Cornell’s campus in Ithaca, New York, has remained closed since 8 November 2024, after the university was informed of the alleged incident. Its windows and entrance are now locked, although a sign bearing the words “Chi Phi – Craigielea – Founded 1868” remains on the lawn. Chi Phi describes its mission as creating “better men”, while its stated motto is “Truth, Honour, Personal Integrity”. The allegations have gained particular attention because no criminal charges had been brought against the seven men almost two years after the reported incident.
According to the lawsuit, the student, identified anonymously as Jane Doe, spent the evening of 19 October 2024 drinking vodka at the Tri-Delta sorority house before travelling to a sorority event at the Moonies bar in downtown Ithaca. She later went alone to the Lot 10 bar and exchanged messages with a friend from Chi Phi before walking for about 25 minutes to the fraternity house. The lawsuit says she had consumed about ten drinks and was visibly intoxicated. It alleges that she was subsequently given more alcohol and pressured to take ketamine before sexual acts began without her consent. Other fraternity members allegedly joined the encounter until seven men were involved. The lawsuit says Jane Doe lost consciousness at about 5.45am.
The seven men have denied the allegations. But the lawsuit includes a photograph of part of a Chi Phi group chat from that night. At 1.42am, one member allegedly wrote that there was “free pussy”. Another responded, “I fucking love chi phi”, followed shortly afterwards by, “Like you can walk in and whip it out.” The latter comments were allegedly made by the fraternity member Jane Doe regarded as a friend and whom she had gone to visit.
Elizabeth Armstrong, a sociologist at the University of Michigan who studies sexual assault around college parties, told DIE ZEIT that the conditions for such behaviour can develop through the recruitment and social structure of fraternities. Members who can obtain large quantities of alcohol and attract women to “high-risk” parties may be favoured, she said. “Being a whistleblower means betraying the entire brotherhood,” Armstrong said. “It means ruining the party, spoiling the fun and thereby questioning the entire purpose of these organisations.”
Nadia Marie, a 36-year-old artist who spent four years in a sorority at Georgia State University, described sexual coercion as part of the culture surrounding some fraternity parties. She said women may discuss incidents privately within sororities but often do not report them to universities. Marie said she herself had experienced sexual abuse by a fraternity member and had not reported it because of shame. “I did everything right, and yet it happened,” she said.
The case has also drawn attention to Cornell’s wider record on sexual misconduct. In a 2025 survey, 35 per cent of female undergraduate students said they had experienced sexual assault during their university years. Between 2018 and 2024, more than 1,200 cases of sexual misconduct or stalking were reported to Cornell. The university imposed disciplinary sanctions on 162 students or employees, but only seven cases resulted in expulsion or dismissal. The figures do not establish why relatively few cases resulted in the most severe penalties, particularly because sexual-assault investigations can lack witnesses or other evidence.
Jane Doe reported the alleged assault to Cornell on 8 November 2024, after which the university closed the Chi Phi house. Its three-member Title IX commission completed its investigation in May 2025 and imposed disciplinary measures on all seven accused students. According to findings reported by The New York Times, two were expelled, two suspended for several semesters, one graduate was declared persona non grata, and two were required, among other minor sanctions, to write “reflective essays”. One of the seven was reportedly seen on campus only weeks ago.
The criminal investigation followed a separate path. Cornell’s campus police sent prosecutors a six-page summary of Jane Doe’s account in November 2024 and later supplied additional evidence. According to The New York Times, however, the prosecutor did not consider that subsequent material when deciding not to pursue charges, relying only on the initial summary and concluding that it did not indicate criminal conduct by the seven men. Public pressure subsequently led to plans to present the case to a grand jury, while New York Attorney General Letitia James was appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul as a special investigator to reopen the matter.
Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff has also announced that an outside law firm will review the university’s internal investigation, describing the episode as a “decisive moment” and saying Cornell must “get better”. Meanwhile, a Cornell academic told DIE ZEIT anonymously that staff had been discouraged from speaking to the press and accused the university of excessive secrecy. She said female students were arriving at her office in tears, afraid to attend classes or return to their accommodation.
Public anger has begun to move beyond the individual case. A protest in downtown Ithaca on Sunday drew about 300 people, mostly women, including students from neighbouring Ithaca College. Speakers described their own experiences of sexual assault, while the slogan “Abolish fraternities” began circulating on social media. A further protest was planned at Cornell on Monday. The case has also fuelled the hashtag #IAmJaneDoe, nearly a decade after the emergence of #MeToo, as students and former students publicly recount experiences of sexual misconduct.
