New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday called for an investigation into Cornell University's response to a 2024 gang rape allegation in which a woman says she was sexually assaulted by seven students after being plied with alcohol and drugs.
The woman filed a lawsuit this month saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house on Cornell's campus in October 2024. Her suit says the assault occurred after she was pressured into snorting
ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, to the point where she was incapable of consenting to sex.
The woman reported the incident to Cornell's campus police department, but the local district attorney's office opted not to prosecute anyone at the time. It reopened the criminal investigation Monday as public outrage built over the woman's allegations.
Hochul, a Democrat, said she supported Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten’s decision to reopen his investigation, but said bigger questions remain about Cornell’s reporting, response, and prevention systems, as well as its campus culture. The governor called for an outside law firm to be hired to independently investigate the university’s response.
“The allegations in this case are nothing short of horrifying," Hochul said in a statement. “For any student to come forward after an experience like this takes extraordinary courage. No student should ever be left wondering whether the institutions meant to protect them will listen and act.”
An email seeking comment was sent to Cornell on Tuesday.
Van Houten defended his office's actions Tuesday in several media interviews, arguing that while the male students involved did things that were “morally wrong,” the woman's initial account of the incident to police didn't include allegations that she was drugged, incapacitated beyond the ability to consent, or forced into sex.
“She went to the police because she knew it wasn’t right,” Van Houten told CNN.
Van Houten has not released the victim's sworn statement to police, but instead released a summary with some of her direct quotes included. He also defended his office's decision not to do additional investigation after the woman, who was identified in court filings by the pseudonym Jane Doe, initially spoke to police.
“There were no question marks. There was no additional need to find information because we had all of the information that the police collected from Jane Doe through her very detailed, very comprehensive statement that she provided," Van Houten said.
Van Houten's office did not talk directly to the victim, but the district attorney had told the police that he would sit down with her to explain the law.
Shortly after the woman first made her allegations in 2024, Cornell publicly disclosed that it was investigating “serious and deeply disturbing allegations of drug abuse and sexual violence at the Chi Phi fraternity house.” It also announced that the fraternity and several students had been suspended, and that parallel police and school investigations were underway.
On Monday, the university said in a statement that it supported the decision to reopen the criminal investigation, adding that its own investigation had led to some students being disciplined or expelled. The Chi Phi chapter remains barred from campus. Cornell has declined to release more information on discipline for individual students, citing privacy rules.
The woman’s complaint accuses the university of not preventing the alleged assaults and of failing to properly address sexual violence on campus. It includes a photo that it says shows a group chat between frat members discussing the night’s events.
Van Houten called the photo a “red herring," saying that it had no bearing on the legal analysis of the case.
“We received it, but it was not relevant to the assessment of whether Jane Doe consented or whether there was any evidence of lack of consent on her part as defined by the penal law,” he said.
