{"id":364136,"date":"2026-10-04T13:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T13:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364136\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T13:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T13:30:08","slug":"cornell-president-pledges-greater-transparency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364136\/","title":{"rendered":"Cornell president pledges greater transparency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cornell’s president called the alleged gang rape<\/a> of a student at a fraternity house in 2024 \u201cdeeply disturbing\u201d Saturday, said it would weigh on the university for years to come and pledged greater transparency amid mounting outrage over the school\u2019s handling of the case.<\/p>\n

In an eight-minute video message to the Cornell community, Michael Kotlikoff described the past week as one of the most difficult in the university\u2019s history and acknowledged troubling questions about the investigations that followed the allegations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart aches when I think of what she experienced,\u201d Kotlikoff said. \u201cIt raises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kotlikoff reaffirmed his commitment to supporting an independent review of Cornell’s handling of the case called for by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and said the school’s Board of Trustees would announce details next week. He also expressed support for Hochul\u2019s decision to turn the criminal investigation over to the state attorney general.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to acknowledge something that can be difficult for an institution to say,\u201d Kotlikoff said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have all the answers, but we are committed to investigating and finding the answers our community deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scrutiny has mounted in recent days over Cornell\u2019s response to allegations that the woman was sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members in 2024. The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, has sued the university and seven former students.<\/p>\n

During a student assembly hearing Thursday that gave students an opportunity to voice concerns and discuss proposals to improve Cornell\u2019s response to sexual assault, several speakers called for Kotlikoff\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

Hochul, asked at a news conference Friday whether she believed Kotlikoff should resign over the university\u2019s handling of the case, declined to take a position, saying she did not yet have enough information.<\/p>\n

Kotlikoff acknowledged frustration that Cornell has not communicated enough, saying that has led to distrust. While citing \u201creal legal and privacy limits\u201d on what the university can disclose, he pledged greater transparency and more opportunities for students, parents and others to engage with university leaders.<\/p>\n

He also committed Cornell\u2019s support to legislative efforts to change New York\u2019s sexual assault laws.<\/p>\n

The case has renewed scrutiny of a state law that makes it difficult to prosecute sexual assaults<\/a> involving people who voluntarily consume alcohol or drugs, even if they became too intoxicated to consent.<\/p>\n

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten cited the law in defending his initial decision not to pursue charges, saying the woman\u2019s original statement to police described voluntary drug use and sexual activity.<\/p>\n

Critics have long sought to close what they call the \u201cvoluntary intoxication loophole,\u201d which distinguishes between people incapacitated by drugs administered without their consent and those who voluntarily became intoxicated. Hochul has pledged to push for changes to the law.<\/p>\n

Kotlikoff also called for a \u201cserious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life,\u201d saying Cornell would engage students, alumni and others in examining how to preserve the benefits of Greek life while strengthening accountability and transparency.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of a group can never diminish individual responsibility for our own actions, for how we treat others or for speaking up when someone may be at risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cornell’s president called the alleged gang rape of a student at a fraternity house in 2024 \u201cdeeply disturbing\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[105,117,129815,118,257,67,9,11,10,49,51,50,12],"class_list":["post-364136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-all-markets-rank-everywhere","tag-app-for-your-consideration","tag-around-the-us","tag-associated-press","tag-central-ny","tag-education","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}