Cornell police pressed fraternity members on how they knew alleged sex was ‘consensual’

Two investigations are underway into a former Cornell University student’s allegations that she was raped at a fraternity house in 2024 — one to determine whether criminal charges should be brought and another to examine how the university handled her case.

Newly obtained videos reviewed by News show members of Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity being questioned by university police in the weeks after the alleged assault.

One of the video shows Chi Phi members who were allegedly in the house that night, but not involved in the group sex, telling Cornell University police they heard it was all consensual.

One fraternity member told police in the video that “what people were saying was that there was like multiple consenting adults in this room.”

Another told investigators that “the general rumor that was going around was that it was a … consensual thing.”

The investigator subsequently appeared to question how the fraternity members could possibly know the encounters were consensual.

“Dude. I was a college kid,” the officer said. “I get it. I’m like, in college, I wouldn’t have been like, ‘Oh, that was a sick consensual act last night.'”

“I guess where — how do they know it was consensual?” the officer questioned.

The fraternity member said he could not recall exactly what had been said but that he believed the men had told others they had sex with the woman.

“I can’t recall exactly what was said, but yeah, I mean, they … they said that they had sex with her, I guess,” the fraternity member said.

The officer pressed him on his inability to identify the fraternity members who were there.

“I just get worried because you know how it looks,” the officer said. “You’re a brother.”

The fraternity member responded that he could not recall everyone who had been in the room but that he remembered Jane Doe in bed talking to people but did not recall names.

“I didn’t know exactly what she was doing, no,” the fraternity member said. “I can’t recall exactly everyone who was in there, and like I said before, I don’t want to make — I don’t want to make assumptions based on what I don’t remember.”

Months later, Jane Doe testified before a Cornell panel, according to a transcript of that testimony obtained by News, where she was unequivocal about what happened that night.

“I was prostituted and I was held up like bait for a gaggle of men,” she said. “I remember a dark room with shadows of men in and out constantly. And I remember feeling like there was a joke and I was not in on it.” She ended her testimony with a plea to Cornell, saying, “Please make it safer for those I love and the community at large … remove those boys from campus.” Cornell later expelled two students and suspended two others but has now brought in former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to lead an independent review of the university’s handling of the allegations.

Yates will review how Cornell prevents and responds to sexual harassment, sexual assault and related misconduct, including the university’s investigative and disciplinary processes, campus police response and oversight of fraternities, sororities and other student organizations.