Recently, Cornell University has faced backlash for its response to sexual assault allegations. A woman labeled as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit on Sept. 16 against seven men, accusing them of sexual assault. These men were part of the Chi Phi fraternity, where Jane Doe attended a party on Oct. 19, 2024, the night of the alleged assault. Jane Doe alleges that she was pressured into taking ketamine at the party and subsequently sexually assaulted by several fraternity members. Her original accusation of rape and coerced drug use in November was reviewed by the Cornell University Police Department, which did not pursue criminal charges.
A record of a Snapchat group chat with 57 members of Chi Phi revealed the exchange of messages discussing the unconscious victim and inviting others to the room. This lack of accountability is sparking outrage across the country because many have expressed how they see victims being ignored and denied the justice that they are entitled to. Many also feel that the punishments given to the seven men were lenient, causing further frustration.
Students expressed horror and revulsion toward the situation. “It’s just horrible what happened to her, especially since she trusted that school and she trusted being educated there, but those guys or men or whatever, not even men, boys, did that, and it’s just disgusting,” sophomore Mia Gil said.
Senior Ashley Porter shared a similar sentiment. “It’s really disgusting, especially the way the faculty handled it, and the group chat, how no one spoke up about anything, how it was so dehumanizing to Jane Doe, it’s just really gross,” she said.
History teacher Tom Galvin was shocked by the situation. “I ask myself, what are we doing?” he said. “How have we failed so badly? How have we failed women? How have we failed boys? Because these men, clearly, at some point, had these values instilled in them.”
“How can we see each other the way those people saw Jane Doe? They did not see her as a person at all. They saw her as something they could control, and get some sort of gratification out of,” Galvin said.
Galvin also felt it was highly relevant to M-A students. “In all likelihood, we have Jane and John Does on campus,” he added.
Senior Lila Weber explained that the situation gained attention because many were angered by the fraternity’s lack of accountability and the case’s complexity. “It’s really disturbing that there was a whole group chat with an entire fraternity on it, and none of them saw that text message and thought it was alarming enough to say something,” she said. “I also think that the story in general is just a little bit complicated, and I think that people are drawn to that complication and trying to pick sides.”
This case has shed new light on the culture of Greek life and affected some students’ opinions about joining a fraternity or sorority. “I was already on the fence about joining a sorority, and I think this is just one of those aspects of things that I would need to think about going into college next year,” Weber said.
Senior Lucca Keighery also believes it affects his opinion on Greek life.“I think it kind of does make my my opinion like worse in general. Like I think Greek life is a lot worse than people make it out to be. It’s more than just having fun in college and and being in a frat. Like it’s more than that. A lot of it is like really terrible things that go on. But that people also like kind of know that to some extent when they sign up for it,” he said.
However others don’t view this as a factor to cause significant change to their view on Greek life. “No, it definitely hasn’t [changed my opinion],” an anonymous alum said. “In the long term, a lot of people won’t most likely won’t remember this case specifically, and I think other people may have the same view as me, where they know this kind of stuff is happening in Greek life.”
Junior Soham Gupta also spoke to the attention the situation has received. “I think it really highlights some of the unfair culture in colleges […] there’s so many kind of of these cases that are unspoken about, and I think this case kind of brings light to all those unspoken cases about how these women were like taken advantage of, and they were too scared to speak up,” Gupta said. “This is kind of a symbol for the larger ideas of women’s rights and kind of activism for just in general more fair treatment.”
Galvin believes social media plays a large role in the attention the situation has generated within young people. “Just about every student here is going to recognize what app was being used, right? And so that’s something they interact with. So now you have this realization that, ‘Hey, a drug-fueled gang rape was planned through Snapchat, but I use Snapchat,’” he said.
Some students expressed concerns about a lack of research. “I think it was horrible and disgusting what they did, but I also think that a lot of people are really uneducated in the topic, and people say a lot of things that they don’t know a lot about,” Keighery said.
“I think it’s mostly, I suppose, emotion-driven, and I don’t think a lot of people have actually done significant research on the subject,” an anonymous M-A alum said.
“I have been doing my best to do a lot of research on it because I honestly think that I’ve seen some of the social media posts I’ve seen have been almost oversimplifying the whole event,” Weber said. “If I hear people say things that are misinformation about her, about the whole story, I can just kind of help set the record straight a little bit.”
Students also commented on fraternities in general. “It’s really important to acknowledge how rape like this is not uncommon, and that the culture that is in these fraternities really contributes to kind of what happened there,” Gupta said.
“I feel like there’s a lot of toxic masculinity, especially around teenage years, of people kind of like having a herd mentality, and so that’s why I feel like it’s crazy that no one spoke up,” Porter said. “Frats, with hazing and all that stuff too. It’s just so dehumanizing, and how is that a way to build friendship?”
Rape and sexual violence within Greek life is not an isolated issue. Fraternities and sororities across the country have faced scrutiny over their roles in campus sexual assault.
Galvin believes that while Greek life should be considered differently, there is a larger issue involving the acceptance of victims’ claims. “It is something that is systemic, and so that requires not just people looking at Greek life differently, but a system change where victims are believed, and the power structure is fundamentally changed. Because when people feel like they have an easy way to the power class, they’re going to take it,” he said.
“Having situations where people are being accused of sexual assault, and you know, drug abuse and rape and all these terrible things, obviously that’s not a good thing. But it really is unfortunately part of Greek life at a lot of schools,” an anonymous M-A alum said.
After the original report was filed in Oct. 2024, the seven men involved were given various punishments. Matthew Ingalls and Jonathan Newell were expelled, Winston Lee was suspended for two years with several semesters of disciplinary probation when he returned, Gilio Lopes was given three semester suspension and two years of probation, Diego Sarabia was banned from Cornell campus for three years, and Scott Norris and Scott Kretschmar were ordered not to contact Jane Doe, study sexual harassment, bystander intervention, and social media use, and assigned “reflection” essays.
Many felt that Cornell’s original disciplinary action fell short. “This is not some simple like bullying. This is like straight up sexual assault. It’s a crazy crime, and it’s important that you know the people who are convicted of it are punished, and that it’s done fairly, like with the due process, and conclusions aren’t made without like actual investigation,” Gupta said.
“I think they should have probably made them do more, like put them in jail or something,” freshman Andrea Ruiz said.
Others believe Cornell’s issue is in its transparency. “I think they probably could have talked about it more, or just really state the situation better than it already was,” sophomore Joshua Cabrera said.
Conversely, some feel that Cornell handled the situation appropriately. “I honestly think Cornell handled the situation relatively well, given the circumstances they were under. They did their own private investigation that lasted several months, and then I think they ended up expelling two students and maybe doing some suspensions,” an anonymous alum said.
For the M-A community, the allegations against the Cornell Seven have prompted questions about the culture surrounding Greek life, the responsibility of bystanders, and the normalization of sexual violence on college campuses. While some students emphasized the need for accountability, others cautioned against drawing conclusions without fully understanding the case. Students and faculty also raised concerns about toxic masculinity and the pressure to conform within fraternity environments, questioning how such behavior can go unchallenged. As students consider their own futures in college, the case has added another aspect to conversations about Greek life.
