Cornell sexual – Cornell students are calling for the resignation of President Michael Kotlikoff following the university’s response to a 2024 sexual assault case involving a Chi Phi fraternity house.
The glass doors of the administration building at Cornell University were boarded up on Monday. standing as a stark. physical reminder of the anger currently rupturing the campus. Hours earlier. protesters had shattered the glass and spray-painted red messages across the walls. a desperate punctuation to their demands for justice and transparency following an alleged 2024 gang rape.
By Monday, the graffiti had been scrubbed away, but the atmosphere remained heavy. Across the plaza, students and faculty gathered, many wearing purple ribbons. They held signs demanding the expulsion of rapists and justice for the woman identified in court papers as “Jane Doe.” For many in attendance. the university’s administrative response to the assault has been defined by silence and procedure rather than protection.
“Too often. we are met with silence. we are met with statements. we are met with procedures. but not enough support. ” student Athena Holloway told the crowd. asking how much it will take for the university to finally stand with survivors. Hispanic studies professor Julia Chang added to the applause, stating, “Rape should not be inevitable.”.
The crowd’s frustration coalesced around the administration. Demonstrators marched to the damaged building chanting “Kotlikoff, resign!”—a direct challenge to university President Michael Kotlikoff. The protesters presented a list of demands. calling for an overhaul of the student discipline system. revisions to how sexual consent is defined in the student code of conduct. and the expulsion or revocation of degrees for all students involved in the October 2024 assault.
That October night. Jane Doe alleges she was pressured into drinking and taking drugs before being sexually assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity. In a lawsuit filed against the university. seven former students. and the fraternity. she described being incapacitated as men invited others to participate in the assault. “I felt like bait. I felt like lions around me,” she told investigators last year. While some of the accused have denied the allegations. telling Cornell investigators the sexual activity was consensual. others face scrutiny over a recorded phone call from November 2024. in which Jane Doe confronts a participant: “What y’all did would be classified as gang rape.”.
University spokesperson Kyle Kimball confirmed an investigation into the property damage. stating. “damaging property is not the answer” to the frustration felt by the community. While the Chi Phi chapter has been shut down and Cornell has stated it expelled some students and suspended others. the administration recently bristled at what it called a “false narrative” of minimal consequences.
Nonetheless, the institutional response is now under state-level scrutiny. New York Governor Kathy Hochul. stating the victim was “failed by people and institutions. ” including Cornell police and District Attorney Matthew Van Houten. has appointed the state attorney general to take over the criminal investigation. Kotlikoff. in an apologetic video released Saturday. admitted the account raised “heartbreaking and troubling issues” and vowed to support an independent review.
As the demonstration in the plaza finally began to disperse, the chants shifted to a blunt ultimatum: “ban the frats!” The tension remains, underscored by a community that no longer accepts the distance between administrative statements and the reality of survivor experience.
Cornell University Jane Doe sexual assault Michael Kotlikoff Chi Phi Kathy Hochul campus protest