Cornell University will examine the role of fraternities and sororities on campus after an outcry over the school\u2019s handling \u2060of a student\u2019s rape allegations, the Ivy League school\u2019s president has said.<\/p>\n
A civil lawsuit filed last month by the woman<\/a>, who \u2060alleges she was drugged \u2060and raped in \u200b2024 by several members of the Chi Phi fraternity, has prompted outrage and soul-searching at Cornell over its campus culture at the \u2060school in Ithaca, New York.<\/p>\n In a video message on Saturday, the Cornell University president, Michael Kotlikoff, said the school would take steps to prevent a similar situation in the \u2060future. That included \u201ca serious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life\u201d, Kotlikoff said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt \u200btheir best, these organisations can provide \u200cstudents with friendship, belonging, mentorship \u200cand a powerful sense of community,\u201d he said. \u201cBut being part of a group can never diminish \u200cindividual responsibility.\u201c<\/p>\n The university would seek input, he said, from students, alumni and others on how to \u201cpreserve what is valuable about Greek life while strengthening individual accountability, transparency and a culture in which every member understands their responsibility to protect the safety and wellbeing of others\u201d.<\/p>\n The lawsuit against Cornell, seven fraternity members and others, alleges that the school failed to adequately punish \u200csome of the accused students.<\/p>\n The accused men have denied all wrongdoing, the New York<\/a> Times has reported.<\/p>\n Cornell has defended its handling of the matter, saying that in 2024 it launched \u200ba comprehensive investigation and barred the Chi Phi fraternity from campus. The school said it also imposed a range of disciplinary measures, including expulsions.<\/p>\n But \u201cwe must do better\u201d, Kotlikoff said, adding: \u201cWe don\u2019t have all the answers, but we are committed to investigating and finding the answers our community deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n He vowed that \u2060university officials would \u201cbe more transparent\u201d about their actions related to the 2024 incident, but \u200bhe did not detail \u200bspecific initiatives that the university would take. \u201cIn \u200bthe coming weeks, we will create additional opportunities for members of our \u200bcommunity to ask \u200cquestions and hear directly \u200bfrom university leadership,\u201d \u200bhe said.<\/p>\n The case has reignited scrutiny of how law enforcement and universities handle sexual assault complaints, with students questioning whether processes are enough to protect them. It has also drawn the attention of New York state officials, who have appointed a special prosecutor<\/a> to investigate.<\/p>\n As the special prosecutor, Letitia James, the New York attorney general, investigates, new attention has been drawn to the findings of a state-mandated sexual violence survey<\/a> conducted by Cornell in 2025, which found that 35% of female undergraduates who completed the survey reported that they had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact while at the university.<\/p>\n The 2025 version of the survey was the first to specifically include unwanted choking or strangulation in the definition of nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation that students were asked about, in addition to nonconsensual penetration and\/or sexual touching.<\/p>\n Guardian staff contributed reporting<\/p>\n Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn<\/a> offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis<\/a> offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect<\/a> (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org\/rcip\/internl.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cornell University will examine the role of fraternities and sororities on campus after an outcry over the school\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-792104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}