Revelations of sexual assault at a Cornell University fraternity in 2024 and how the university responded have sparked national outrage, reigniting a public debate about “the extent to which fraternities, the extent to which athletics really support this kind of culture that allows perpetrators to escape with little or no accountability,” says law professor Deborah Tuerkheimer.
In 2024, seven male students avoided criminal prosecution after allegedly drugging and gang-raping a female student at the Chi Phi fraternity house. Cornell is now under intense scrutiny for its handling of the original investigation, which found that the student identified as Jane Doe was sexually assaulted by two of seven men, resulting in expulsions for two and lesser consequences for the other five. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has admitted that his office at the time did not independently investigate the case when it declined to bring charges. The DA has now reopened the case, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul has named Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to investigate how the case was handled.
“Around the country, we see a pattern of investigators, police officers and even prosecutors deciding at the outset that the allegations are not worth pursuing, and dismissing the case before any kind of investigation gets off the ground,” says Tuerkheimer.
