WNBA Player Reveals Past Trauma in Support of Cornell Rape Accuser

WNBA player Justine Pissott has shared her personal experience of being drugged and raped, expressing solidarity with a student who has accused seven Cornell University fraternity brothers of sexual assault. Pissott, a 22-year-old for the Las Vegas Aces, detailed her trauma in an Instagram statement released Tuesday.

The statement comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a student, identified as Jane Doe, who alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted by members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell on October 19, 2024. The lawsuit claims the student was pressured to consume alcohol and ketamine before being repeatedly assaulted.

Pissott, who previously played college basketball at Tennessee and Vanderbilt, stated that the Cornell case has been difficult for her to witness, resurfacing her own traumatic experience. "As someone who has been drugged and rap**, the Cornell 7 situation has been really hard for me to see," Pissott wrote. "It hits a place in me that I don't talk about often."

She described the lingering effects of such an assault, including confusion, memory gaps, self-questioning, and self-blame. Pissott emphasized that there is no single "right" way to react to trauma and that external judgment of survivors is unhelpful.

"Unless you've been through it, you really don't understand what trauma can do to a person," she stated. "There is no 'right' way to respond to something that never should've happened to you in the first place."

Pissott clarified that her intention in speaking out is not to seek sympathy, but to help other victims feel less alone. "My heart truly hurts for the survivor in the Cornell 7 situation," Pissott continued. "I pray God covers her through all of this... I don't speak about my experience for sympathy. I speak about it because I know how lonely this kind of pain can feel."

The allegations in the lawsuit have generated significant public attention and scrutiny of Cornell University and local authorities. Three of the seven accused fraternity members have denied the claims, while one has reportedly been fired from their job.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced that his office will present evidence to a grand jury, following questions about the initial decision not to prosecute. Van Houten stated that the accuser did not initially claim to have been drugged or gang-raped in her statement to campus police. However, he has since reached out to the accuser's attorney to revisit the case, acknowledging that justice may require re-examining decisions when new evidence emerges.

Cornell University has stated its support for the reopened investigation. The university conducted its own inquiry, resulting in sanctions such as expulsions and suspensions. The Chi Phi chapter on campus was closed in 2024 and remains barred from university grounds. The lawsuit also names the fraternity, the university, and other parties, seeking unspecified damages.

The accuser's complaint alleges that the university failed to prevent the assaults and adequately address sexual violence on campus. The lawsuit includes a screenshot allegedly showing a group chat among fraternity members discussing the events of that night.