New details have emerged in the Cornell University alleged rape case, including an account of a fraternity member allegedly asking a student to stop her friend from discussing what may have happened at a fraternity house.
The information is contained in a 565-page Title IX record that includes Jane Doe’s account, interviews with six of the seven men named in the lawsuit and statements from 20 witnesses.
One student who had been at the Chi Phi house on the night of the alleged assault in 2024 told investigators she received a call from one of the accused men the following day, shortly before an event at her sorority.
She alleged that he asked her to make sure a friend did not “say anything that she thinks might’ve happened last night”. He also said another fraternity member was “really concerned”, according to the record.
The student said she initially assumed the man was embarrassed and did not want rumours to spread. She passed the message to her friend, who was later interviewed by investigators.
The friend said the comments only “clicked” weeks later, when Cornell sent a campus crime alert. “It makes a lot more sense,” she told an investigator. “And it was very concerning.”
She and her roommate, a third woman, then went to Cornell Police. The friend said she provided a witness statement but added: “I’m pretty sure I don’t know what they did with that.” The statement is not referenced in the 565 pages of the Title IX record.
Disputed account of alleged call
During an interview, the accused man denied having a phone call with the first student about the night in question, according to the record. A month later, in written corrections, he said he had spoken to her when she visited “about not spreading any rumours”.
In the same interview, when asked how fraternity members dealt with the rumours, he said: “We were just in the idea of just deny.”
The record also raises questions about what information was provided to the Tompkins County district attorney’s office. Cornell initially said online that it had shared all investigatory information, but later amended its FAQ to say it had shared “the victim’s sworn statement and the Snapchat screenshot”.
The district attorney said he received Jane Doe’s 2024 statement and a Snapchat video. He initially declined to bring charges against any of the accused men, but has since reopened the investigation.
