Video courtesy the Associated Press, More Perfect University
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Some New York state officials demanded independent investigations and proposed new laws after Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten reopened a 2024 sexual assault case involving seven Cornell University fraternity members. Now, responding to public outrage, Democratic New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and legislators want to close legal loopholes around intoxication and interrogate how the university handles student safety.
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Jane Doe, an unnamed former student, sued Cornell and seven men from the Chi Phi fraternity on September 16, claiming they drugged and raped her at a party in October 2024. Van Houten said he reopened the investigation to present new evidence from the civil lawsuit to a grand jury.
The DA defended originally declining to file criminal charges in November 2024. Doe’s initial sworn police statement described consensual sexual acts and heavy voluntary drug use, Van Houten said, but she never claimed the men used physical force or drugged her against her will. Under New York law, prosecutors need proof of forcible compulsion or physical helplessness to prove a lack of consent.
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Cornell University said that officials conducted a Title IX investigation, expelled and suspended students, and barred Chi Phi from campus. The university called it “irresponsible” to say that the perpetrators in the case suffered no consequences, and warned that doing so could discourage victims from reporting sexual assault in the future.
Hochul called for outside legal experts to review how Cornell responded to the incident. She said in a statement on Tuesday that she wants to know if the school did everything possible to protect students and pursue justice.
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“The allegations in this case are nothing short of horrifying,” Hochul said. “For any student to come forward after an experience like this takes extraordinary courage.”
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins echoed the governor’s call for an independent review on Tuesday, adding that the State Senate will “continue to look at smart legislative fixes, so all victims are heard and protected.”
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“The university’s response to these allegations has rightfully drawn serious scrutiny,” she said in a press release. “We need to ensure that all students on that campus and campuses across the state can report these crimes without being ostracized in the process.”
State lawmakers have talked up two proposed bills that relate to the case, for example by making it easier to prosecute accused attackers even if a victim willingly took alcohol or drugs before an assault.
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Democratic State Senator Nathalia Fernandez and Democratic Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz sponsored S10632/S54A/A101. It would allow sex crime charges when a victim can’t control their conduct, even if they’re voluntarily intoxicated. Current state law limits sex crime prosecutions when a victim chooses to consume an intoxicant, but the bill would let prosecutors focus on whether the victim could actually consent instead of how or why they were intoxicated. If passed into law, it would let a jury convict an attacker who knew or should have known that drugs or alcohol left the victim unable to control their behavior.
“Voluntary use of alcohol or drugs shouldn’t be treated as consent to sexual assault,” Dinowitz wrote on social media on Monday. He and Fernandez are holding a press conference in the Bronx on Thursday to rally support for the bill.
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Democratic State Senator Lea Webb, who represents the Ithaca area, also backed that specific legislation while throwing her support behind S866. Sponsored by Democratic State Senator Jamaal Bailey, it would clarify consent language in sexual assault cases.
That bill would redefine a “physically helpless” victim, updating the legal standard for consent from “no means no” to “yes means yes.” It would replace “unwillingness” with “affirmative consent” in the penal code, defining a knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision to engage in sexual activity.
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Both bills passed in the State Senate this year but stalled in the Assembly.
“Just today, the Trump administration finalized their repeal of Title IX rules, gutting longstanding student protections,” Webb said in a statement on Monday. “We must enact stronger guardrails to ensure that our institutes of higher education are following and have the resources to enforce our state’s Human Rights law.”
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She also called for increased funding for victim services, arguing, “The status quo cannot continue.”
Democratic State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who leads the State Senate’s Codes Committee, warned local police and Cornell administrators that lawmakers are watching closely. “We are prepared to use every legislative tool at our disposal for justice,” he said. “Proceed accordingly.”