Cornell University agrees to outside review of school’s response to gang rape allegations

Cornell University has agreed to Gov. Hochul’s demand for an independent review by outside counsel of the university’s response to gang rape allegations at a college fraternity house.

“I spoke with Cornell’s president today, and the university has agreed to bring in outside counsel for an independent investigation,” Hochul posted on X Wednesday. “I’ve directed my team to look at what more we can do to strengthen protections for survivors. This culture has to stop. And in New York, we’re going to do everything we can to stop it.”

A Cornell spokesman confirmed the review by outside counsel, but would not comment further.

The announcement comes just one day after Hochul called Cornell’s response to the alleged rapes “horrifying,” saying, “No student should ever be left wondering whether the institutions meant to protect them will listen and act.”

A New York prosecutor in Tompkins County reopened an investigation on Monday after a woman filed a lawsuit this month alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted in October 2024 by seven Chi Phi fraternity members. She was a 20-year-old Cornell student at the time and a sorority member.

In the complaint, the woman said the seven men were given “the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell,” an allegation the university denies was the sole consequence.

Court filings include a photo of what purports to be a Snapchat group chat between fraternity brothers from that night, where one man wrote that there was “free p—- upstairs.”

Speaking at a “Students vs. Billionaires” town hall event in Ithaca,  Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that Cornell was among America’s elite institutions that protected “the culture of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia.”

“Their frat knew. This was reported to Cornell University, and after looking into this matter, they expelled two of them and made the rest write essays as their form of punishment,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the event attended mostly by Cornell University and Ithaca College students. “It has got to stop.”

On Monday, the university said in a statement that it supported the district attorney’s decision to reopen the probe. School officials said Cornell conducted a “thorough Title IX investigation” at the time and issued sanctions, including an unspecified number of expulsions and suspensions. It also said the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024.

“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” said Kyle Kimball, the vice president for university relations. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”