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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday called for an outside investigation into Cornell University’s campus culture and its response to allegations by an unidentified female former student that she was raped by several men at a fraternity there in 2024.
The governor said in part that she is seeking to determine whether “Cornell met every obligation to protect its students and pursue justice.”
“The allegations in this case are nothing short of horrifying. For any student to come forward after an experience like this takes extraordinary courage,” Hochul said in her statement.
“I support the district attorney’s decision to reopen the criminal investigation. But there are also serious questions about Cornell’s campus culture and its systems for prevention, reporting, and response,” Hochul’s statement continued. “That is why I am calling for outside counsel to conduct a transparent, independent review of the university’s response to determine whether Cornell met every obligation to protect its students and pursue justice.”
“No student should ever be left wondering whether the institutions meant to protect them will listen and act,” the statement also said.
“Cornell shares Governor Hochul’s commitment to addressing campus culture issues, which affect universities across the nation and New York. We are committed to continuing to work with state officials to advance student safety and wellbeing,” a Cornell spokesperson said in a statement provided to News.
Prosecutors in central New York this week announced that they are reopening the investigation of the alleged sexual assault after a former Cornell student filed a civil lawsuit alleging that she was drugged, assaulted and gang raped by seven former and current members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell, sparking outrage about the incident.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a statement that his office is considering whether to bring criminal charges related to the incident, though he said the allegations in the civil complaint are “dramatically different” than the woman’s statement to police two years ago.
In an interview with News, Van Houten acknowledged that he relied on the investigation conducted by Cornell Police and said his office didn’t “independently investigate” the allegations.
Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo said on Monday that he would issue a directive for the city to stop issuing permits for student events at Cornell “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.”
“Despite the severity of these crimes, Cornell University administrators and police failed to contact or coordinate any response with the Ithaca Police Department. Furthermore, the University failed to hold the perpetrators to account,” Cantelmo’s statement said. “This is a miscarriage of justice and continues to pose a significant threat to students and residents who may be victimized at unsafe and under-monitored on- or off-campus student events.”
Ithaca’s Common Council would have to adopt the resolution for it to take effect.
The Ithaca Police Department said in a statement Monday that the alleged incident wasn’t reported to them at the time and that they “learned of these allegations recently through the media.”
“We understand these allegations are being taken very seriously by Cornell University and the Tomkins County District Attorney’s Office,” the statement further said. “We encourage members of our community to report allegations to the Ithaca Police Department.”
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