Rape Has 4 Letters, Cornell Has 7

According to the lawsuit, filed on September 14 of this year, Jane Doe arrived at the Chi Phi fraternity house before midnight on October 19, 2024 with about ten alcoholic beverages already in her system to visit a friend who resided there. Upon arriving, reports detail that the night began as what was said to be a consensual threesome involving Jane Doe and one of her friends, but soon, drugs like ketamine were brought into the equation, as well as a considerable amount of more men. One of the original participants in the threesome bowed out, but the other began making unwanted sexual advances towards Jane Doe, and many others soon arrived. Around 1:42 a.m., a crude message was sent to the fraternity’s Snapchat group chat titled “Chi Phi Active”, announcing “free p****” in the frat house. As more ketamine was introduced and Jane Doe became increasingly more intoxicated, she was asked to engage in a foursome, to which she said no. However, her refusal was ignored. Messages continued to flood into the group chat, one even asking “Shop still open?” to which another member replied that it was. Four more frat members entered the room, and one even tried to shut it down, but to no avail. She was taken into another, smaller room where sexual activity continued, nonconsensually. Activity finally ended around 5:45 a.m., or rather, all the activity she could remember. 

What is most concerning about this case, besides the disregard of basic human rights, is Cornell's handling of the reporting and prosecution process. Every higher education institution must abide by the Title IX law, which prevents against sex-based discrimination and requires schools to address and investigate sexual assault claims, but it does not require institutions to criminally prosecute those involved. Cornell did not take legal action against the seven frat members involved. Jane Doe’s more than 1,000 page testimony was dismissed as partially invalid, and was not brought to the D.A. Rape, in all forms, is strictly illegal, and punishable by jail time. The most severe punishment for what should have been a crime was expulsion. Matthew Ingalls, found responsible for sexual assault, as well as Jonathan Newell, were expelled. Winston Lee was suspended for two years, placed on probation, and assigned reflection essays. Gillio Lopes was suspended for three semesters, placed on probation, and assigned reflection essays. Diego Sarabia was declared persona non grata (person not welcome) and barred from campus for three years. Scott Norris was placed under a no-contact order and assigned reflection essays. Scott Kretzschmar was placed under a no-contact order and assigned reflection essays. This is precisely where the slogan “It’s SA (sexual assault), not essay” originated from. We live in a society where emotional, mental, and physical trauma is simply treated as another homework assignment.

This is the sad reality that undergraduate students, especially women, must face when in college. The case is one of extremely few that make it to the headlines, concealing sharp statistics of campus rape cultures nationwide among some of the most prestigious and buttoned up universities in the country. Statistics by RAINN found that 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted during their time in college, compared to 1 in 17 men. In just 2025 alone, there were 34 reports of sexual assault or harrassment at Stanford University, 27 at Yale, and 12 at Harvard, compared to 7 at the University of Washington. These elite universities pride themselves on picking “the best of the best” of the student population, yet struggle to keep their students safe within their rigorous academic and social environments.

The support and outrage around what has transpired is akin to the all-too familiar MeToo movement launched in 2006 by Tarana Burke, a sexual assault survivor and grassroots organizer. After hearing a 13-year-old’s story of sexual abuse, she sparked a movement encouraging women to speak out about their past experiences and hold those at fault accountable. Assault accounts ranged anywhere from public to workplace environments, and coined the famous hashtag “#MeToo” on social media. Recently, the critically acclaimed broadway play John Proctor is the Villain, set in 2018, took inspiration from the movement and combined it with the classic play The Crucible to create a powerful story pushing back against a student’s unhealthy sexual relationship with her teacher. The play was perhaps a foreshadowing of the events to come, a sort of reborn MeToo movement directed explicitly towards college students. Since the filing of the lawsuit, protests have struck up not just on Cornell’s campus, but all around the country, with a new slogan: “We are all Jane Doe, until none of us are”.

Cornell administration has since taken action—perhaps out of shame—to further investigate what truly happened that night, bringing in New York Police and banning all fraternity parties and social events for the 2026/27 school year. The Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell’s student newspaper, published an editorial article titled “Cornell Won’t, We Will” in which they shared all the names (listed above) of the alleged rapists, and stated thus: “We refuse for this victim to be reduced to just another story. Cornell has failed to protect its students. Cornell has failed to address the growing issue of sexual assault on campus with its pathetic task force. Cornell has failed the student allegedly raped by those seven men at Chi Phi in October 2024. Cornell has failed her. Cornell has failed us.” 

Until institutions around the country finally enact serious measures to prevent sexual assault, we will continue to be swallowed by the vicious cycle and lack of accountability that accompanies rape. An essay does not validate the trauma that survivors like Jane Doe have to endure for the rest of their lives. An essay will continue to perpetuate rape culture. An essay cannot keep our student population safe. 

Sourcing:

https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/09/editorial-cornell-won-t-we-will

https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/how-the-cornell-seven-rape-case-became-a-national-scandal

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/a-gang-rape-allegation-at-cornell-highlights-how-title-ix-guides-campus-sex-assault-cases

https://www.nytimes.com./2026/09/29/nyregion/cornell-university-rape-investigation-chi-phi-fraternity.html

https://rainn.org/red-zone/campus-sexual-violence-statistics 

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