‘We don’t feel safe’: Rape allegations spark student fury at Ivy League university
Students at Cornell University have called for greater transparency and accountability after allegations that members of a fraternity raped a young woman in 2024.
Students at Cornell University have called for greater transparency and accountability after allegations that members of a fraternity raped a young woman in 2024.
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The allegations, which comprise a civil lawsuit, have prompted fresh scrutiny of the Ivy League university’s handling of sexual assault complaints.
Cornell student Sophia Riley Sim told a public hearing on Thursday that the university had “failed our community”.
"There has been a lack of meaningful communication from university leadership, administrators, and faculty,” she said.
The university said it launched a comprehensive investigation, barred the Chi Phi fraternity from campus and imposed disciplinary measures including expulsions, according to Reuters.
This comes as prosecutors have reopened an investigation into allegations a Cornell University student was drugged and gang-raped by seven fraternity members in an hours-long assault.
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The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, alleges she was assaulted at the Ivy League university’s Chi Phi fraternity house on 19 October 2024, while she was intoxicated and incapable of consenting.
The 101-page lawsuit included an image from a fraternity Snapchat group chat, in which one participant allegedly alerted other members to the possibility of a sexual encounter with the woman.
At around 1.42 am, one of the men allegedly sent a message to the fraternity’s Snapchat group chat – titled “Chi Phi Actives” – stating there was “free pu**y” upstairs.
Multiple fraternity members then entered the room, where Doe alleges they pressured her into taking more ketamine and subjected her to an hours-long assault that continued until approximately 5.45 am.
Her civil lawsuit claims Cornell failed to protect her and then failed to properly punish those accused, alleging they were handed temporary suspensions and given the chance to “mitigate their conduct by submitting essays”.
Cornell University supports the decision of the Tompkins County District Attorney to provide an opportunity for the victim’s story in the 2024 Chi Phi fraternity sexual assault case to be heard by a criminal grand jury.
— Cornell University (@Cornell) September 28, 2026
Our statement: https://t.co/FIW8I8JYlU
The alleged victim says she reported the incident to Cornell University Police on 8 November 2024.
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.
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.
Thirty-five per cent 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.