Editor’s note: This article has been updated throughout.
An alleged gang rape at Cornell University has prompted fury from students and women across the nation.
Public interest in the case has grown since lawyers for the victim, known as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit in mid-September against the university and the alleged perpetrators, who are referred to online as the “Cornell 7.” Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced his decision to reopen an investigation into the 2024 incident, telling ABC News that he intended to present the case to a grand jury with Doe’s cooperation.
Days later, New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, said she had “lost faith” in Van Houten and appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case.
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“No institution gets to protect its reputation at the expense of a young person seeking justice. No public official gets to look the other way when the system breaks down and fails young people,” Hochul said at a Friday press conference. “And as governor, I will not allow anyone to sweep this case under the rug.”
“This is now an active criminal investigation,” James added.
Here’s what we know about Doe, her allegations against seven fellow Cornell students and efforts to investigate the alleged group attack.
The allegations
Doe, a former Cornell student, alleges that she was drugged and repeatedly raped in a multi-hour attack at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024. According to the civil lawsuit, Doe said that she went to the fraternity house already intoxicated and was pressured multiple times to snort a drug the men told her was ketamine. She alleges that while they sexually assaulted her, one of the assailants sent a message to a fraternity Snapchat group that there was “free pussy upstairs” so that additional men could participate. Doe reported the alleged attack to university police about three weeks later, though news reports have disputed the contents of the original account prepared by Cornell police and shared with Van Houten’s office. No criminal charges were pursued at the time.
The 19th has reached out to Doe’s attorneys for information on her original police statement.
One of the men named in the suit, Scott Kretzschmar, has denied touching or engaging in any sexual activity with Doe through his attorney. Kretzschmar’s attorney said he was only in the room briefly.
“It’s not OK to victimize an innocent person to further your goal, whatever that may be,” the attorney, Jeremy Saland, told NewsNation.
Another man named in the suit, Gillio Lopes, denied Doe’s allegations. His attorney told CBS News that Lopes “unequivocally denies the allegations against him.”
A third man, Scott Norris, has also denied allegations through his attorney.
Why is this back in the news?
Van Houten’s decision to reopen the investigation came after attention around the case had been building.
Public figures such as Florence Pugh, an Oscar-nominated actor, and Toby Morton, a former South Park writer, both made widely shared statements on social media. Morton said over the weekend that he had purchased a website where he will track the case; he also said he bought domain names associated with the seven men alleged to have participated in the attack, as well as Cornell officials who investigated and responded.
News coverage about the investigation has exploded in the days since as reporters and public officials attempt to piece together why prosecutors chose not to conduct a more thorough investigation or pursue criminal charges in 2024.
The original investigation
Cornell conducted an internal investigation in the months after the attack that involved at least 12 hearings, according to the lawsuit. Van Houten told ABC that, at the time, his office relied on Cornell’s investigation to determine whether there was enough evidence to bring a criminal case and did not independently investigate the allegations. Van Houten said that in many instances for crimes on campuses, it is standard for county prosecutors to rely on university investigations.
Doe’s lawsuit includes evidence that was not originally uncovered by university police, which her attorney attributes to improper training on how to interview a victim of sexual assault. Van Houten said he hoped to take some of this new evidence to the grand jury. That includes a screenshot of the Snapchat message.
Van Houten said that his office wanted to “reexamine whether there’s additional evidence we were not aware of in November of 2024, that exists now that would change our assessment of the case and would result in the grand jury finding that there was criminal conduct.”
Cornell said in a September 21 statement that the university takes allegations of sexual assault “extremely seriously” and that its civil rights office “investigated and adjudicated the allegations consistent with university policies.”
The fallout
None of the seven men alleged to have been involved in the attack were arrested. Two were expelled. Others were briefly suspended and made to write essays and attend workshops, according to the lawsuit, a fact that has drawn significant backlash. In a statement this week, Cornell said that, “None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement.”
The Chi Phi chapter was banned from campus in 2024, and Doe left Cornell after the attack.
Who is named in the lawsuit?
Doe’s lawsuit names the university, the fraternity house and the seven men as defendants. Doe also named her sorority, a bar she went to before arriving at the fraternity house and several other parties associated with Greek life at Cornell.
How have public officials responded?
Hochul said she had spoken to Cornell’s president this week and demanded that an outside counsel conduct an investigation into the case, which the university agreed to.
Mayor Robert G. Cantelmo of Ithaca, where Cornell is located, has declared a moratorium on permits for student events “until such time that the University conducts an accounting of its protocols to prevent and prosecute crimes of sexual violence and publicly releases new standards and practices to keep our community safe.”
Other prominent Democratic leaders have spoken out about the investigation. These include New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader; Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who appeared at an event in Ithaca before Van Houten’s announcement; and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Asked about the investigation on Thursday, President Donald Trump said, “I don’t know that much about it, but Cornell’s a fine school and I’m sure they’ll do what’s right.”
Hochul said on Friday that she will push to change a state law that says that if someone chooses to consume alcohol, they are not considered unable to consent to sex — known as a voluntary intoxication law. New York is one of 19 states with such a law.
“I support closing this loophole,” she said.
Additional reporting by Shefali Luthra.
