ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) — Cornell students gathered in the campus square to protest the university’s response to sexual assault allegations in a fraternity house, and the school’s main administration building was splashed with graffiti and damaged overnight.
In a protest that took over the large space in front of the school’s student center, students, faculty members and others wore purple ribbons and held signs with messages such as “support survivors, expel rapists” and “Justice 4 Every Jane Doe” — the name by which the woman who reported the assault is known in court documents. Other people watched from trails, windows and a nearby hill.
“Too often we are faced with silence, declarations, procedures, but not enough support,” student Athena Holloway told the crowd. “How much will it take for our university to stand with survivors?
Julia Chang, professor of Hispanic studies, added to applause: “Rape should not be inevitable. »
Call for resignation of Cornell president
Speakers criticized fraternities, university administrators and Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff, saying he and his administration have prioritized protecting the university’s reputation over student safety.
“Kotlikoff, resign!” » Protesters chanted, among other slogans, as they marched towards the damaged administration building to present a list of demands. They included, among other things, changes to how the student code of conduct defines sexual consent, an overhaul of the student disciplinary system, and expulsions or degree revocations for all students involved in the alleged 2024 assault of the woman known as Jane Doe.
The woman’s account of being sexually assaulted by several fraternity brothers made it clear, the and beyond campusthat “despite all the strong feelings about sexual assault, … we don’t do enough to prevent it, or to support survivors after it happens,” said student Madeline Gage.
The group began to disband with chants such as “ban the fraternities!” »
Graffiti and broken glass in an administrative building
The Ivy League school is trying to quell a firestorm over its handling of the alleged gang rape of 2024. On Monday morning, the university found signs of anger on the very walls of its administrative headquarters.
Holes were punched in one of the building’s glass doors, and the walls next to it were marked with messages painted in red condemning the patriarchy and the Ivy League school’s handling of sexual assault, media photos showed. Later Monday, the graffiti was removed and the gate was closed.
Cornell spokesman Kyle Kimball said in a statement that the university was investigating and that “damaging property is not the answer” to Cornellians’ “frustration and strong emotions.” Campus police referred questions to his office, which declined to provide further details about the incident.
Jane Doe alleges she was sexually assaulted by several members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024 after she was pressured to drink and do drugs. She was a student at Cornell at the time.
The woman recently sued the university, seven former students, the fraternity and others. Her lawsuit said she became totally incapacitated when fraternity members assaulted her and a man sent others a message inviting them to participate.
“I felt like bait. I felt like lions were around me. It was just a totally debilitating place to be,” she told Cornell investigators last year, according to files reviewed by Associated Press.
Lawyers for two of the former students have denied participating in a sexual assault. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the other men or their representatives were unsuccessful. Court records show that some of the accused students, when interviewed by Cornell investigators, described the sexual activity as consensual.
Shortly before turning herself in to Cornell police in November 2024, Jane Doe recorded a phone call with one of the men she said raped her. ABC News on Monday aired portions of that call, containing only what was said to be his voice, and recounted other parts of the conversation in writing.
“What you did would qualify as gang rape,” she told him at one point, according to the outlet, which said she provided the recording to the university.
Students demand transparency and accountability
The trial brought national attention to what Cornell, her police force and the local prosecutor did after she told campus police in November 2024 she “can say with 100% confidence that I was raped.”
No criminal charges have been filed. The Chi Phi chapter at Cornell was closed and the Ivy League university said he expelled some students and suspended others. In a statement last week, the administration chafed at the “false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case.”
The students, however, demanded more accountability and transparencyand New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Jane Doe had been “abandoned by people and institutions,” including Cornell police and local prosecutor Matthew Van Houten.
Hochul appointed the state attorney general last week to take over a criminal investigation that Van Houten had reopened a few days agoand the governor called for an independent review of Cornell’s handling of the matter.
After the developments of the week, Kotlikoff released an apology video Saturday, saying Jane Doe’s story “raises heartbreaking and disturbing questions about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.”
Kotlikoff reaffirmed his support for an independent review of the university’s actions and promised more transparency and a commitment to “finding the answers our community deserves.”
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Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed from New York.
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