Editor’s Note: The following article contains discussion of sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.
Greek life can shape vital parts of the college experience. For many students, fraternities and sororities offer a place to find community, participate in philanthropy and build a social life.
But that sense of belonging has not always come without its consequences.
For survivors of sexual assault in higher education, a headlining case is an everyday lived experience, with trauma that isn’t solved by a temporary suspension.
Last month, The Cornell Daily Sun reported on Cornell University’s mistreatment of an alleged gang rape from October 2024. A former student, anonymously identified as Jane Doe, claims she was sexually assaulted by seven members of the Xi chapter of Chi Phi Fraternity while she was under the influence of alcohol and ketamine.
After two years of silence from university officials and authorities, it was the independent student publication that brought this case to light.
According to The Sun, the Cornell University Police Department made a drug-related arrest at the Chi Phi house 22 hours before the alleged assault, which should have resulted in an interim suspension, but didn’t. The article also states a Title IX investigation from that same night noted a ketamine overdose.
As more information is revealed everyday, the institutional failing becomes clearer. University resources aren’t reliable because schools would rather self-preserve than investigate the crime overlooked on campuses and the culture cultivated.
This issue isn’t unique to Cornell University. There is a Jane Doe on almost every college campus.
According to a report from Today, 1,216 instances of sexual violence were reported at Cornell University over the last seven years. Out of those reports, 162 cases opened, 51 found a perpetrator responsible and seven perpetrators were expelled.
These numbers do not count for the numerous that don’t get reported.
In the chapter’s original investigation, an unidentified defendant was found responsible for attempted sexual exploitation.
According to the lawsuit, Chi Phi fraternity members advertised Jane Doe’s body as free in a group chat that the defendant participated in.
His punishment was a one-way no-contact order with Jane Doe, a mandatory class about social media use and sexual harassment as well as a written reflection paper addressing his actions.
Rape culture is far too normalized on campuses. We see it in the way the fraternity brothers text each other, and the way universities like Cornell do little to stop it.
Government officials got involved where the university didn’t.
According to the Sun on Sept. 28, Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo called for an immediate moratorium – a temporary suspension or delay – of all student special event permits, including Greek life, citing the “appalling response” to the case.
Because of recent news coverage, the criminal investigation has been reopened. According to CNN, New York Attorney General Letitia James will be appointed to the case as a special prosecutor.
There is a Jane Doe, a John Doe and so many others who have felt an imbalance of power from either a fraternity brother, someone who was supposed to be a friend or someone who took advantage “just because we were both drunk.”
Until this behavior is abolished, sexual violence will be normalized, universities will cover up scandals and women will continue be “asking for it” just by existing.
You can stop the parties, but that won’t end the culture on college campuses.
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