Cornell University’s handling of an alleged fraternity house gang rape is raising questions about how a decades-old federal civil rights law shapes colleges' treatment of campus sexual assault.
The focus on Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in education, comes after a woman identified only as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit last month against Cornell and seven fraternity members.
She said she was assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October
2024 after being pressured into snorting the fast-acting sedative ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. The accused men have all denied her allegations, either saying the sexual activity was consensual or they weren’t involved.
Title IX was best known for most of its 54 years for opening doors for female athletes. But guidance issued in 2011 under President Barack Obama's administration made clear it also protects people who say they were sexually assaulted or harassed.
The rules have changed with new presidential administrations, but Title IX proceedings are intended to help colleges decide how to discipline the people involved, regardless of whether they face criminal or other legal repercussions.
A sexual assault case can be handled in criminal court and through the campus-run Title IX disciplinary process at the same time.
In theory, the criminal proceeding could lead to prison time and the Title IX case to expulsion.
In reality, serious consequences are rare in either system, said Megan Greeson, a professor of community psychology at DePaul University. She was among the authors of a review of studies involving 288,066 cases that found around 20% of those reported to police are prosecuted and 8% lead to convictions.
Jane Doe was no exception. Days after she gave her first substantial interviews to campus police, the county district attorney in upstate New York decided not to prosecute.
Long after that, Jane Doe believed the criminal investigation was ongoing. Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, said she was “misled.”
Her case illustrates a common complaint with the dual-track system. Greeson said she often hears: “What do you mean there’s two different investigations?”
On the surface, Title IX investigations look a lot like police investigations. Witnesses are interviewed, and the accused often hire attorneys. The process is so demanding that many victims drop their case or choose to go an informal route, in which the accused might be asked not to take classes with the accuser, or to switch universities — often with no mark on their record.
When cases proceed to a hearing, schools have a lower bar for determining culpability than the justice system’s standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. Title IX requires schools to find an accused student responsible if the evidence shows the allegations are more likely true than not.
Beyond expulsions, consequences can include suspensions, loss of scholarships or withholding of a degree. A culpability finding can be noted on transcripts, which can make it difficult to get into graduate school or to obtain a state license in certain fields.
At some universities, including Cornell, Title IX offices handled fewer complaints after regulations narrowed the definition of sexual harassment during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Critics argued the rules discouraged students from coming forward with abuse allegations. Those who did faced a live hearing and cross-examination by a person of their alleged attacker’s choosing.
Former President Joe Biden's administration overhauled the rules to expand the type of behavior that’s considered sexual harassment. Rules finalized in 2024 also provided recognition that Title IX protects LGBTQ+ students and made live hearings optional.
A federal judge in Kentucky overturned Biden’s changes in early January 2025. Trump's current administration subsequently reverted to the 2020 rules in a change that became official last month.
Cornell’s Title IX complaints fluctuated as the regulations changed, falling from 205 in 2019 to 98 in 2020 before rising to 166 in 2024.
Additionally, the Education Department ’s Office for Civil Rights used to serve as a powerful enforcer in cases of campus sexual violence. Under Obama and Biden, it brought the weight of the government against schools that mishandled sexual assault complaints involving students. But investigations have dwindled since Trump returned to office.
“There’s become fewer and fewer avenues for accountability and support that students are able to access with the way the current administration is enforcing or really choosing not to enforce Title IX,” said Emma Grasso Levine, the manager of Know Your IX, which works to address campus sexual violence.
It started about three weeks after the alleged assault, when Jane Doe went to campus police. That same day, the head of Cornell’s fraternities contacted the school’s Title IX office. The Chi Phi fraternity house was immediately suspended and later closed for good.
The following week, Jane Doe met twice with Title IX and campus police investigators, according to court records filed after one of the accused students sued Cornell over his punishment.
Investigators ultimately conducted 50 interviews with 32 witnesses and gathered evidence that included social media messages. The process led to a disciplinary hearing that stretched over 12 days in May 2025.
Although the alleged gang rape happened during the brief time Biden’s versions of the rules were in place, Jane Doe faced a live hearing because an injunction had stalled them from going into effect at hundreds of colleges, including Cornell.
At least one accused student wasn’t happy with the process. At one point, a hearing panel member listened to testimony over Zoom while driving for 45 minutes, according to the accused student's lawsuit. The student alleged it was a distraction that hurt his defense.
Ultimately, some of the accused students were suspended or expelled. Two were asked to write reflection essays as part of their punishments.
Those were unusual outcomes. From 2018 to 2024, 1,216 Title IX complaints were reported to Cornell, with just 4% resulting in a finding that one of the accused was responsible. Only 14 cases led to suspensions and seven to expulsions or dismissals. Lighter consequences, such as written reprimands, were more typical.
Amid calls for Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff to resign over the handling of the investigation, the school announced Tuesday that it was suspending parties at fraternity houses and will give New York State Police a role in investigating sex crimes on campus.
Kotlikoff also committed to adding a case manager to the school’s Office of Civil Rights to help those who report sexual misconduct navigate the process. A review of Cornell's handling of sexual assault claims also is underway.
“I believe,” Kotlikoff said in an earlier apologetic video, “we as an administration and we as a community must do better.”
___ Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
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