{"id":226749,"date":"2026-10-07T01:16:36","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T01:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/a-crowd-of-students-protests-cornells-response-to-gang-rape-complaint-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T01:16:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T01:16:36","slug":"a-crowd-of-students-protests-cornells-response-to-gang-rape-complaint-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/a-crowd-of-students-protests-cornells-response-to-gang-rape-complaint-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"A crowd of students protests Cornell\u2019s response to gang rape complaint – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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ITHACA, N.Y. \u2014 Cornell students thronged a campus plaza to protest the university\u2019s response to allegations of sexual assault at a fraternity house<\/a>, and the school\u2019s main administration building was splashed with graffiti and damaged overnight.
At a demonstration that overflowed the large space in front of the school\u2019s student center, students, faculty members and others wore purple ribbons and held signs with such messages as \u201csupport survivors, expel rapists\u201d and \u201cJustice 4 every Jane Doe\u201d <\/a>\u2014 the name by which the woman who reported the assault is known in court papers. Other people watched from pathways, windows and a nearby hill.
\u201cToo often, we are met with silence, we are met with statements, we are met with procedures, but not enough support,\u201d student Athena Holloway told the crowd. \u201cHow much does it take for our university to stand with survivors?\u201d
Hispanic studies professor Julia Chang added to applause: \u201cRape should not be inevitable.\u201d
Speakers faulted fraternities, the university trustees and Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff, saying he and his administration have prioritized protecting the university\u2019s reputation over students\u2019 safety.
\u201cKotlikoff, resign!\u201d demonstrators chanted, among other slogans, as they marched to the damaged administration building to present a list of demands. They included changes to how the student code of conduct defines sexual consent, an overhaul of the student discipline system and expulsions or degree revocations for all students involved in the alleged 2024 assault of the woman known as Jane Doe, among other things.
The woman\u2019s account of being sexually assaulted by several fraternity brothers has made clear, on and beyond campus, that \u201cfor all the strong feelings about sexual assault … we do not do enough to prevent it, nor to support survivors after it happens,\u201d student Madeline Gage said.
The group began disbanding with chants including \u201cBan the frats!\u201d
Graffiti and broken glass at an administration building
The Ivy League school has been trying to quell a firestorm over its handling of the alleged 2024 gang rape. Early Monday, the university found signs of the anger on the very walls of its administrative headquarters.
Holes were knocked into one of the building\u2019s glass doors, and the walls beside them were marked with red-painted messages condemning patriarchy and the Ivy League school\u2019s handling of sexual assaults, news media photos showed. Later Monday, the graffiti was removed and the door was boarded up.
Cornell spokesperson Kyle Kimball said in a statement that the university was investigating and that \u201cdamaging property is not the answer\u201d to Cornellians\u2019 \u201cfrustration and strong emotions.\u201d Campus police referred questions to his office, which declined to provide more detail on the incident.
Jane Doe alleges that she was sexually assaulted by multiple Chi Phi fraternity members in October 2024 after being pressured into drinking and taking drugs. She was a Cornell student at the time.
The woman recently sued the university, seven former students, the fraternity and others. Her lawsuit said that she became fully incapacitated as fraternity members assaulted her, and that one man sent others a message inviting them to participate.
\u201cI felt like bait. I felt like lions around me. It just was a totally debilitating place to be in,\u201d she told Cornell investigators last year, according to records reviewed by The Associated Press.
Lawyers for two of the former students denied they participated in a sexual assault. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the other men or their representatives have been unsuccessful. Court records show that some of the accused students, when interviewed by Cornell investigators, described the sexual activity as consensual.
Shortly before she went to Cornell police in November 2024, Jane Doe recorded a phone call with one of the men she says raped her. ABC News broadcast portions of that call Monday, containing only what it said was his voice, and recounted other parts of the conversation in writing.
\u201cWhat y\u2019all did would be classified as gang rape,\u201d she told him at one point, according to the network, which said she had provided the recording to the university.
The suit has drawn national attention to what Cornell, its police force and the local district attorney did after she told the campus police in November 2024 she \u201ccan say with 100% confidence I was raped.\u201d
No criminal charges have been filed. The Chi Phi chapter at Cornell was shut down, and the Ivy League university has said it expelled some students and suspended others. In a statement last week, the administration bristled about the \u201cfalse narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case.\u201d
Students, however, have demanded more accountability and transparency, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said Jane Doe was \u201cfailed by people and institutions\u201d including the Cornell police and local District Attorney Matthew Van Houten.
Hochul appointed the state attorney general last week to take over a criminal investigation that Van Houten had reopened days earlier, and the governor called for an independent review of Cornell\u2019s handling of the matter.
After the week\u2019s developments, Kotlikoff released an apologetic video Saturday, saying that Jane Doe\u2019s account \u201craises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.\u201d
Kotlikoff reaffirmed his support for an independent review of the university\u2019s actions and vowed more transparency and a commitment to \u201cfinding the answers our community deserves.\u201d
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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