More than a thousand students, faculty members and Ithaca-area residents gathered at Cornell University on Monday afternoon to protest the university's handling of an alleged sexual assault at an Ithaca fraternity house in 2024.
Protesters demanded accountability and called for the resignation of Cornell administrators in the wake of the case.
The rally was held at Ho Plaza, where speakers shared concerns about how Cornell handled the case from the steps of Willard Straight Hall.
Cornell student Saya Taylor said university systems have allowed what she described as a culture of rape to thrive and sex crimes to go unpunished.
"Jane Doe deserved a campus that supported her," Taylor told the crowd. "Jane Doe deserved an administration that delivered
a fair and proper judicial process. Jane Doe deserved a police department that would actually follow up on her case. Instead, she was silenced — her rapists free to walk the grounds of Cornell under a system that chose the university over the student."
Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Julia Chang said she was "horrified, but not shocked" when she first heard about the allegations. Chang said rape and sexual abuse "should not be inevitable" and "should not be normal."
"This is a movement of and for the students," she said. "This is a movement of and for survivors. This is a movement of and for the people. If the leaders up high are acting, it's because of brave and principled students like you who refuse to remain complacent."
Images from Cornell's campus
Cornell sexual assault allegations
Nearly two years after an alleged sexual assault at Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024, a former Cornell student known only as Jane Doe is at the center of the controversy.
Doe filed a civil lawsuit last month that has since prompted the reopening of a criminal investigation, sparked discussion about a gap in state law and raised questions about how her initial report of the alleged assault was handled by university police, Cornell officials and the county prosecutor.
The case has drawn national attention and public outcry.
What the lawsuit alleges
The lawsuit, filed in New York County Supreme Court in September 2026, alleges that a 20-year-old Cornell student visited a friend at the Chi Phi fraternity house on Oct. 19, 2024.
According to the complaint, she was intoxicated and was pressured into taking what she believed was ketamine before she was sexually assaulted. The lawsuit alleges fraternity members discussed her condition in group messages and encouraged others to go to an upstairs room where she was incapacitated.
The woman is suing seven men, Cornell University, local and national Chi Phi organizations, local and national Tri Delta organizations, and Ithaca bar and nightclub Moonies.
The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court, and no criminal charges have been filed in connection with the case.
Contributing: USA Today Network
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Cornell students demand accountability after sexual assault allegations
