Cornell suspends fraternity parties, gives state police role in
investigating campus assault reports
[October 14, 2026]
By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Cornell University suspended parties at fraternity houses until next
year and is giving state police a role in investigating reports of
sexual assault on campus in the school’s latest response to outrage over
its handling of a gang rape allegation.
The measures announced Tuesday by Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff
include a suspension of all parties and social events at Interfraternity
Council houses through the end of the 2026-27 academic year and a new
“zero tolerance” policy that would immediately suspend chapters for
violations.
“These measures will provide time for a thorough review of fraternity
life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue,”
Kotlikoff wrote in a letter to the campus community.
Cornell has more than 20 active Interfraternity Council fraternities.
The council did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
It’s unclear whether the restrictions extend to off-campus parties.
It’s not the first time Cornell has cracked down on fraternity parties.
The university temporarily suspended them in 2022 after reports of a
sexual assault and students being drugged at fraternity-affiliated
housing.
Cornell also tightened fraternity safety rules in 2019 after freshman
Antonio Tsialas was found dead in a gorge following an alleged hazing
incident. A year earlier, a fraternity was placed on probation over a
contest in which members competed to have sex with women they considered
overweight.
Cornell plans alternatives to fraternity parties
Cornell said it will solicit input about “the development of safe social
alternatives” to Greek life party culture and direct university
resources toward those alternatives.
Kotlikoff also committed to adding a case manager to the school’s Office
of Civil Rights to help those who report sexual misconduct on the
Cornell campus navigate the process, and to working with New York State
Police to allow its criminal investigators — who are independent of
Cornell — to investigate allegations.
Crimes reported on Cornell’s campus are generally investigated by campus
police, a department that has full law enforcement powers but is
controlled by the university.
The campus police force operates independently from municipal police in
Ithaca, New York, where the university is located. Its officers
investigated the 2024 gang rape allegations and presented their initial
findings to the Tompkins County district attorney, who declined to
prosecute within weeks of the woman making her first report to police.
New York’s governor removed the district attorney from the case this
month after a public outcry over the lack of charges.
The investigation is now being led by New York Attorney General Letitia
James, while Cornell has hired former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally
Yates to conduct an independent review of the university’s response.
A state police spokesperson declined to comment.
A gang rape allegation sparks scrutiny of Cornell’s response
In a lawsuit filed in September, the woman alleged that she was drugged
and sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members after attending a
party at the Chi Phi house in October 2024.
She said she was pressured to use drugs and that other men entered the
room while she was incapacitated. She also alleges that Snapchat
messages describing her as sexually available to anyone at the house
circulated among fraternity members without her knowledge.
[to top of second column]
|
Demonstrators attend a protest against Cornell University's handling
of the 2024 fraternity-house gang rape allegations at the campus,
Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Ithaca, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Cornell closed the fraternity chapter and disciplined several
students following an internal investigation, but no criminal
charges have been filed. The seven men accused in the woman’s
lawsuit have all denied her allegations, either saying that the
sexual activity was consensual or that they weren’t involved.
Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer for one of the men accused in the
woman’s lawsuit, criticized the restrictions announced Tuesday as a
sweeping response to problems that extend beyond fraternities,
arguing that universities promote Greek social life but distance
themselves from it when controversies arise.
“Greek life has become the convenient target,” he said in an emailed
statement. He warned that parties could simply move off campus,
where there would be less oversight. “Changing the address doesn’t
change the behavior.”
Cornell faces broader pressure for reform
Kotlikoff’s announcement came a day before Cornell’s Faculty Senate
was to take up a proposed resolution expressing no confidence in the
administration’s ability to effectively address sexual assault on
campus.
Paul Ortiz, a Cornell labor history professor who is the lead
sponsor of the resolution, said Tuesday that he welcomed the new
measures but regretted that it took student protests, media coverage
and the suffering of people like the woman suing the university over
an alleged gang rape to prompt action.
“That the administration is only acting the day before they might be
held accountable in the faculty senate is deeply troubling,” Ortiz
said in an email to The Associated Press, adding that he believes
the no-confidence resolution is “more important than ever.”
“The key point to understand is that scores of students, staff,
faculty and alumni have approached the sponsors of the resolution to
emphasize to us that the Jane Doe case is but the tip of the
iceberg,” he continued. “Students and alumni have shared experiences
of being raped at Cornell.”
“These women testify that they were frightened to report assaults
because they felt that Cornell has at times treated rape as more of
a ‘PR problem’ than a heinous crime,” Ortiz said.
In his Tuesday letter, Kotlikoff acknowledged that sexual violence
extends beyond fraternities, saying Cornell must also confront a
campus culture of excessive drinking and drug use and expand
education about students’ responsibility to intervene when others
are at risk.
Cornell also plans to add victim advocates and expand sexual
violence prevention programs, he said, calling the actions “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,” he said.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
