This article describes allegations of sexual assault. No one named as a defendant in the lawsuit has been criminally charged, and EdTech Current is not naming the individual defendants. If you need support, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 800-656-4673.

Two years after a former Cornell University student reported a sexual assault at the Chi Phi fraternity house, her case has become a test of how a university, its police and a county prosecutor handled the report. In the span of a week, the criminal investigation was reopened, New York's attorney general was appointed special prosecutor and Cornell agreed to an independent review of its own response.

This is what has been reported so far, and what remains unknown.

The allegation

On Sept. 16, 2026, the former student filed a civil lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court. She alleges that on Oct. 19, 2024, when she was 20, multiple men drugged and sexually assaulted her for more than four hours at the Chi Phi house, according to NPR. The complaint alleges she was pressured into consuming ketamine, marijuana and alcohol to the point of incapacity, Fox News reported.

The defendants include seven men who were fraternity members in 2024, the Chi Phi fraternity, Cornell University, the woman's sorority and an Ithaca nightclub. The claims include negligence, breach of contract, sexual assault and battery, and violations of New York's Human Rights Law. Responses from the individual defendants were not included in the reporting reviewed for this article.

Why there were no charges in 2024

The Tompkins County District Attorney's office did not bring charges in 2024. District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has said the woman's original statement to police described her participation as "voluntary, conscious, and consensual," and pointed to differences between that statement and the lawsuit, according to NPR. He has also acknowledged that he did not review the full interview transcript before declining to prosecute, according to Fox News.

A week of escalation

  • Sept. 28: Van Houten reopened the criminal investigation, assigned a senior sex crimes prosecutor and said the case would go to a grand jury.
  • Sept. 29: Gov. Kathy Hochul called for an outside law firm to review Cornell's response. "The allegations in this case are nothing short of horrifying," she said. "No student should ever be left wondering whether the institutions meant to protect them will listen and act."
  • Oct. 1: The attorney general's office began reviewing Cornell's handling of the case, and Hochul said Cornell had agreed to an independent review, The Cornell Daily Sun reported.
  • Oct. 2: Hochul issued an executive order appointing Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor. "I've lost faith in the Tompkins County DA's ability to fairly oversee it," Hochul said. James said: "Every New Yorker deserves to know that when they report a crime, it will be investigated fully and fairly." Van Houten's office said it would "fully comply with the Attorney General," according to the Sun.

What Cornell has said

Cornell says it ran a Title IX investigation lasting several months in 2024, in which a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days, and that it imposed expulsions and suspensions. The fraternity's chapter had already been closed. The university has denied the lawsuit's claim that writing essays was the only consequence for some of those involved, saying it "cannot publicly provide an individual-by-individual account" of its findings because of federal privacy law.

A dispute over evidence has followed. A university FAQ published Sept. 30 said Cornell had shared "all investigatory information" with the district attorney, including a Snapchat screenshot. Van Houten told ABC News his office "never received this Snapchat image," the Sun reported. On Oct. 2, Cornell removed that statement from the FAQ.

On Oct. 3, President Michael Kotlikoff addressed the backlash in a video. "We owe it to Jane Doe and to survivors of assault to get this right," he said. "I believe we as an administration must do better." He said the Board of Trustees would name an outside law firm to conduct the independent review, that the university supports the special prosecutor, and that it would examine fraternity culture and support changes to New York's sexual assault laws, according to the Sun.

On campus

  • The presidents of all 22 Interfraternity Council chapters voted unanimously to cancel parties for the weekend.
  • Twenty student organizations planned a "Justice for Survivors" protest.
  • The Student Assembly held a public hearing on sexual violence and passed three resolutions.
  • Police records show Cornell University Police made a drug arrest at the Chi Phi house about 22 hours before the alleged assault, the Sun reported.

What we don't know yet

  • Whether a grand jury will hear the case, and whether anyone will be charged.
  • Which law firm will conduct the independent review, and its scope and timeline.
  • The scope and timeline of the attorney general's review of Cornell's response.
  • How the defendants will respond to the civil lawsuit.

Why it matters beyond Cornell

The case puts three systems side by side that often operate separately: a university's Title IX process, campus police and a county prosecutor. The questions now being asked of Cornell are ones every institution should be able to answer. What evidence was gathered? Who received it, and when? And how do campus findings and criminal decisions inform each other?

This article will be updated as the investigations proceed.

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