Matthew Ingalls, a former Cornell University fraternity brother at the center of an alleged gang rape lawsuit, has expressed anti-American sentiments and grew up in a privileged environment in Dubai, where his father is a professor of Islamic studies. Ingalls, 21, whose full name is Umar Matthew Ingalls, attended the Dubai International Academy, an elite private school.
A 2020 online article quoted Ingalls as saying he was embarrassed by his American citizenship and that "American" in the United Arab Emirates was synonymous with "Trump." He attended the school, where annual tuition is approximately $21,000, and where homes begin at $3 million in the Emirates Hills neighborhood.
His father, Matthew Burtchaell Ingalls, has been a professor of Islamic studies at the American University in Dubai since 2016 and chairs its Department of Middle Eastern Studies. The elder Ingalls, a convert to Islam, previously taught Sharia law and Islamic Fundamentalism at Yale University. His university bio page was removed following the scandal.
Matthew Ingalls was one of two Chi Phi fraternity brothers expelled from Cornell in 2024 after an internal investigation found them responsible for sexual assault. The lawsuit, filed last month by a female student identified as Jane Doe, alleges that a threesome initiated by Ingalls devolved into a gang rape. Ingalls reportedly fled to Dubai after his expulsion and had told friends he was taking a gap year in Thailand.
Newly released text messages reveal Doe's panic days after the party, as rumors spread. "My reputation is destroyed and i’m utterly ashamed," she texted Ingalls, expressing frustration that so many people knew about the incident. She added that rumors were growing "crazier every f—king day."
Doe also stated that she was "open-minded" about sexuality and that such incidents "are going to become more common." In a text message conversation weeks later, Ingalls described the initiation of the encounter, stating, "you come in, say hi. We start dancing for like maybe three to five minutes, and then I pop the question." He then wrote "boys come whip it out" twice in a Chi Phi Snapchat group conversation.
Ingalls later claimed he was the victim, stating he was "sodomized" by Doe and complaining that the university did not care that he was a sex-assault "survivor." All seven Chi Phi brothers involved have denied raping Doe, and none have been criminally charged. Ingalls could not be reached for comment, and his father did not respond to inquiries.