Cornell Launches External Investigation After Alleged 2024 Gang Rape Case Reopens

The president of the American university Cornell, at the center of an alleged gang rape case in 2024, announced on Saturday an independent external investigation into the behavior of his prestigious establishment during the events.

“Together with our Board of Trustees, I welcome the independent review conducted by an outside law firm into all aspects of Cornell's handling of the 2024 matter,” President Michael Kotlikoff said in a video message posted on the university's website. “This week has been one of the most difficult in our history,” he continued, affirming that the case “will weigh heavily on our community for many years to come.”

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The prosecutor of Tompkins County (upstate New York), where the campus is located, announced Monday the reopening of an investigation into an alleged gang rape dating back to October 2024, after a young woman took legal action in civil court. Aged 20 at the time of the events, she claims to have been raped by seven students, all members of the Chi Phi fraternity, while she had consumed alcohol and ketamine.

The case sparked a wave of outrage on Cornell's campus and beyond, with many seeing it as emblematic of a culture linked to fraternities at universities. Prosecutor Matthew Van Houten, who was already in office in 2024, explained that he did not follow up on a first complaint because the elements transmitted by the police showed, according to him, consensual reports.

According to several media, campus police redacted part of the complainant's statement in which she described the events as rape and claimed to have been coerced.