As ‘Cornell 7’ scandal deepens, college professor breaks silence with scathing message about accused

When a 22-year-old Cornell University A student filed a civil complaint on September 16 against seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity, accusing them of rape her in 2024, some social media users questioned his claims.

“According to her first texts, she was totally depressed,” one person wrote.

Kate ManneCornell professor and feminist philosopher, believes this reflects a broader trend of questioning women who speak out about their misconduct.

“For the record, I believe Jane Doe,” she said on Sunday’s episode of Alex CooperIt is Call her daddy podcast.

Cornell professor addresses growing scrutiny surrounding Cornell 7 victim

Cooper recapped the Cornell 7 case before introducing Manne on the show.

“She was a 20-year-old college student who went to a frat party one night to see a guy she thought was her friend,” she said.

“And then, at 1:42 a.m., a message went out to a fraternity chat group saying, “free pussy.” Another fraternity brother responded, “I love Chi Phi. » And later, someone asked: “Is the store still open?” »

Cooper pointed out that the men were talking about “a woman, a human being.”

“She was pretty clear about one thing. She told investigators she was 100 percent sure she had been raped,” Cooper added.

So when the podcast host saw Jane Doe being ridiculed online, her first thought was to talk to Manne, who her mother introduced her to “years ago.”

Manne didn’t mince his words when addressing the speech on social media.

“The r*pe is always 100% the fault of the r*pist, 0% of the victim,” she said.

“So many people feared he would lose his bright future. What about his future?” she asked.

Manne also shared some encouraging news, saying sentiment on Cornell’s campus was largely supportive of Jane Doe.

A recent rally in support of the alleged victim drew a massive crowd of thousands.

The mood at Cornell University is “pretty dark,” according to Manne.

“I think the students are incredibly upset, and that’s all anyone can talk about,” the professor said before continuing, “But I will say this, I had this moment where we were all marching to Ho Plaza where the rally was happening on Monday (October 5) in support of Jane Doe.”

“It was so awesome.”

Cooper quickly pointed out that Manne had previously written that “protesting sexual assault on campus is a lost cause.”

“I think a lot of people feel that way in general sometimes while protesting,” she said, before asking, “Does this particular moment feel different?”

“That seems different to me,” Manne replied.

She said the gathering felt like a crystallization of “a kind of latent rage on the part of women” and also “people who care a lot about women.”

Another Jane Doe solidarity rally was held in Boston on October 8, attended by an estimated crowd of 800 people, according to several reports.

The defendant offered a different account of the events at Cornell 7, claiming the encounter was consensual.

On October 1, the New York Times published previously undisclosed statements that the alleged Jane Doe perpetrators made to university officials about their actions.

Although four of the men admitted to having some form of intimate contact with the woman, they maintained that the contact was consensual.

The other men denied any involvement with her.

Newell claimed during his interview that he agreed to participate, assuming Ingalls had obtained permission on his behalf.

According to Doe’s lawsuit, Newell was also the one who sent the text “free pussy” to a group chat containing 57 men.

The fourth fraternity brother, Gillio Lopes, who admitted to having contact with Doe, said he and Newell lived in the room where the alleged encounters took place.

Like Lee, he also claimed that it was Doe who made inappropriate contact with him and proceeded without his consent.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed a special prosecutor for the case earlier this month.

She revealed that the prosecutor closed the case without questioning the victim or anyone else involved in the alleged attack.

“In what world does the prosecutor not even question him?” she asked.

Hochul announced that New York Attorney General Letitia James would now lead the case as special prosecutor.

The governor expressed hope that this decision would assure Jane Doe that all facets of the case would be “investigated” and that justice would be served.

“Some discussions were consensual, but they clearly crossed the line at some point,” said one user.