New York Governor Kathy Hochul called for an independent review of Cornell University’s handling of a 2024 incident at a fraternity that resulted in new allegations of rape and sexual assault this month.
The lawsuit named the individuals, and alleged the university, the fraternity and her sorority failed to protect her. In a civil suit filed in New York Supreme Court this month, an unidentified former Cornell student alleged she was drugged at the Chi Phi fraternity house and raped by seven students in 2024.
The plaintiff in the civil suit against Cornell, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, alleged she was “plied with alcohol and drugs to the point of intoxication,” resulting in “heinous criminal sexual acts. Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo said Monday that Cornell did not contact the city’s police department regarding the incident and referred to the university’s response to the matter as a “miscarriage of justice.”
