Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., gave a dramatic account of a Cornell University sexual assault case during a town hall in Ithaca on Sunday, but her description of the underlying facts and the university’s disciplinary response differs sharply from what is documented in the civil complaint and from Cornell’s own statements.
The case centers on a civil complaint filed last month by a former Cornell student identified as Jane Doe, who alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members at the Chi Phi house in October 2024.
“Seven men drugged and gang raped a 20-year-old woman,” Ocasio-Cortez told the town hall, hosted by More Perfect University. “They lured her in to a fraternity house. They drugged her with ketamine. They then posted to a group chat that she was incapacitated, and seven men took turns gang raping her for seven hours.”
Ocasio-Cortez went further, saying that after Cornell looked into the matter, “they expelled two of them and made the rest write essays as their form of punishment.” She added: “I want to be clear that the culture of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States and including Cornell University in this instance. It has got to stop.”
Cornell has disputed that characterization, saying expulsions and suspensions were issued and that no respondent was required to write an essay as the sole consequence. According to the civil complaint itself, several students who received temporary suspensions were given the option to submit essays as a way to mitigate their conduct, not as the entirety of their punishment.
“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” Cornell said in a statement. “A continuation of the false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case is irresponsible, will make survivors feel less safe and supported, and will perpetuate the underreporting of sexual assault.”
What the Complaint Alleges
The 101-page civil complaint names Cornell University, fraternity-related entities, seven individual defendants and other parties. It alleges Doe arrived at the fraternity house intoxicated, was pressured into taking ketamine, and was subjected to sexual acts without her consent. The complaint also alleges that one fraternity member posted a sexually explicit message about her in a fraternity Snapchat group, and states that the incident ended around 5:45 a.m.
Cornell said its own months-long investigation led to a range of sanctions, including expulsions and suspensions, and that the Chi Phi chapter was closed and barred from campus.
A Reopened Criminal Investigation
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said his office reviewed a sworn statement from Doe in November 2024 and initially concluded that the facts as stated did not support criminal charges under New York law. Van Houten said that statement “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped,” and instead described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual.”
Van Houten said his office has since reopened the investigation and will revisit whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members. A senior prosecutor with experience in sex-crime cases is preparing the matter for presentation to a Tompkins County grand jury, which could weigh Doe’s testimony alongside new evidence raised in the civil complaint.
Scott Kretzschmar, an attorney for one of the accused students, said his client welcomes the renewed investigation but strongly denied the allegations, saying his client had no sexual contact with Doe. Attorneys for several other accused fraternity members have likewise denied wrongdoing. No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the allegations.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that she has appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office and Cornell University have been asked for additional comment on the discrepancies between her public remarks and the documented record.
