Cornell Student Felt 'Betrayed' by University's Handling of Alleged Gang Rape
A student who provided tips to police about the alleged gang rape at Cornell University's Chi Phi fraternity expressed feelings of betrayal regarding the institution's response.
A Cornell University student who alerted authorities to an alleged gang rape on campus stated she feels “betrayed” by the university’s handling of the case.
The student, who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity, recounted hearing rumors about the alleged incident, involving a student identified as Jane Doe, within hours of it occurring on Oct. 19, 2024. The alleged assault reportedly took place at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house during a threesome that “went off the rails.”
Following the incident, Cornell issued a crime safety alert about a reported sexual assault. The student, after seeing screenshots of messages allegedly sent by Chi Phi members on Snapchat, submitted a tip to law enforcement. She told NBC News that rumors spread quickly within the campus’s Greek life community, and many knew individuals connected to the fraternity brothers involved.
"The thing I think we all feel betrayed in regards to is that it wasn’t handled," the student said. "When we got the police report, I think we all assumed it was being … handled properly, and was in good hands."
Campus police interviewed the student days after Jane Doe reported the incident on Nov. 8. During a half-hour interview, she provided names of fraternity members allegedly messaging about the events and information regarding ketamine use at the Chi Phi house. Doe’s lawsuit states she was drugged with ketamine and given alcohol before and during the alleged assault.
Despite the information provided by the student, an NBC News review of records indicated that Cornell Police spoke to multiple witnesses and received numerous anonymous tips, but this information was not referred to the local prosecutor when the decision was made not to press charges. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten noted that only interviews of fraternity members who “declining to speak on the advice of their attorney” were flagged.
On Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the investigation would be transferred from Tompkins County to New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Cornell University and its campus police have not yet responded to requests for comment.