by Joseph Weber
Cornell University is suspending parties and other social events at fraternity houses for the remainder of the academic year, the school’s president said Tuesday, amid the resurfacing of allegations a female student was sexually assaulted at a frat house in 2024.
Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff said in announcing the ban on such parties that New York State Police will have a role in investigating sex crimes on campus.
“These measures will provide time for a thorough review of fraternity life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue,” Kotlikoff (pictured above) wrote in a letter to the campus community.
He also vowed to add a case manager to the Ivy League school’s Office of Civil Rights to help those who report sexual misconduct on campus navigate the process, and allow New York State Police criminal investigators to join campus police in investigating allegations.
“We will put the knowledge gained from this initiative into practice, and invest the resources required to sustain real change into the future,” Kotlikoff noted in his letter.
“These are first steps toward systemic change on our campus. We will take all necessary steps to address the conditions that led to Jane Doe’s experiences, and those of other survivors. Cornell must be a place where safety is not an open question. I am committed to doing that work, and to seeing it through. It will take all of us working together, however, to build a Cornell culture of community, trust, and respect,” he added.
None of the seven fraternity members who allegedly participated in the 2024 incident, in which alcohol and drugs were involved, was charged. The matter resurfaced last month when the woman, who is no longer a Cornell student, filed a Jane Doe civil suit against the plaintiffs.
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Joseph Weber is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Michael Kotlikoff” by Cornell University.
