Cornell University students have challenged the administration over its handling of allegations that a former student was drugged and raped at a fraternity house in 2024, during a tense campus town hall.
The public hearing, hosted by the university’s student government on Thursday night, focused on sexual violence and the response to a civil lawsuit naming seven fraternity members as defendants.
Students told the meeting that Cornell had not done enough in response to the allegations. One student told the BBC there was “a lot of anger” at the hearing and said she was herself incredibly angry with the university.
Another student said the administration needed to change to ensure that alleged incidents of this kind did not happen again on campus.
Cornell students demand action over alleged fraternity assault
The allegations concern an incident said to have taken place at a fraternity house in 2024. The former student, referred to as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, has alleged that she was drugged and raped by members of the fraternity.
Anger has also been directed at the seven men named in the case. In a recent campus video, a student confronted Gillio Lopes, one of the defendants, telling him that he disgusted her and that she was ashamed to attend the same university.
The lawsuit includes a screenshot of an alleged group chat in which one fraternity member appeared to write “Free p***y” to others.
The incident was reported to investigators in 2024, but the county district attorney initially declined to bring charges. The case was reopened after the civil lawsuit was filed, and a special prosecutor has since been appointed.
The district attorney’s office has faced criticism over its original decision, but said the account set out in the civil case differs significantly from the information first presented to prosecutors.
Cornell has said it supports the renewed investigation. The university also said the Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus, while attorneys for some of the accused have denied the allegations.
