“In what world would police learn from a victim that she was drunk and gang-raped by five men in a fraternity house and not refer those charges to the district attorney,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul asked Friday.
Hochul spoke of the case of a former Cornell University student who said she was raped in 2024 by several members of the university’s Chi Phi fraternity. At the time, the district attorney did not file criminal charges.
The case shocked the nation and forced a reexamination of how sexual assault is handled in higher education. While the district attorney has defended his handling of the case, many politicians and legal experts are now examining whether certain details of the alleged victim’s account were overlooked and prosecutors have reopened the case.
Amy Wang is a reporter for The Washington Post who has been covering this story for the past week. she and Today, explain Co-host Noel King tells the story of what happened that night, what happened after and what we still don’t know.
Since the two spoke, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who has also been assigned to oversee the case, said there is an “active criminal investigation underway.” As new information comes to light, further legal action may be taken.
The following are excerpts from a conversation between King and Wang, edited for length and clarity. There’s more to the full podcast, listen Today, explain No matter where you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora and Spotify.
In October 2024, a young woman went to a fraternity house near the Cornell University campus. Who is this young woman? Why was she going to the frat house that night?
The document only lists the young woman as “Jane Doe,” so we don’t know her name. She was 20 years old at the time. She was a sophomore at Cornell University. On October 19, 2024, at approximately 11 p.m., this Jane Doe went to a bar on campus and then to the Chi Phi fraternity house to hang out with a friend.
She said she was extremely drunk at the time and had about 10 drinks in about three hours. Her friend from the fraternity handed her a beer. She later claimed another member of the fraternity forced her to take drugs, specifically ketamine and marijuana, and drink more alcohol. She claims two members of the fraternity assaulted her, one of whom later sent a Snapchat message to active Chi Phi members. The message was very graphic but essentially invited them to join, and several people did.
About three weeks later, the young woman would go to the Cornell Campus Police Department to report what happened that night. But in the meantime, what happened? What happened?
We now know, according to reports in The New York Times and CBS News, that the young woman was a member of a sorority on campus, so she went to a member of the sorority to try to figure out what was going on. She’s still processing it in real time. According to their report, she did not use the words “rape” or “assault.” She also saw rumors circulating on campus about what was going on at the fraternity and became increasingly concerned about how they portrayed her.
During this time, she also received a text message from one of the seven men in the fraternity essentially apologizing for what had happened the previous night. She hasn’t accused them of assault yet, but was chatting and even tried to reassure him in the first message.
On Oct. 22, she made an appointment at the campus health clinic because she thought she had a urinary tract infection and wanted to get tested because she told doctors she had experienced a traumatic experience.
You can see her thinking about what happened change over the weeks, according to the New York Times. She sometimes said it started to ruin her life and she would sleep crying and she felt ashamed. She’s just trying to process what happened, trying to make sense of it. By Nov. 3, she concluded that what happened at the Chi Phi party was an assault, according to investigative documents obtained by The New York Times.
“This was not consensual. I took more ketamine than I can remember,” she texted one of the seven fraternity members, feeling uncomfortable. Days later, on Nov. 7, 2024, she went to the emergency room to request a rape kit, according to the documents. The next day she went to the Cornell University Police Department.
How did she describe what happened to the police when she went to the police? What did she tell them?
She told police she believed she had been assaulted, and she told police the incident was initially consensual. She finally said, “I’m 100 percent sure I was raped.” She told police she felt so uncomfortable that she had been taking ketamine, in part because she thought she might pass out. There are at least two men she considers her friends. After that night’s events, she faced rumors circulating around campus that described her as dissolute, essentially accusing her.
What happens after Jane Doe talks to the police? What do they do?
When she spoke with Cornell University police, they summarized what she said in a six-page statement, which she then signed. That’s the statement submitted to the Tompkins County District Attorney.
The District Attorney will be the one who files charges or decides not to file charges. What did he decide?
Yes, so the DA decided not to file charges in 2024 based on a sworn statement she signed to police.
The district attorney said no charges would be filed against the seven. Were they subject to any disciplinary action?
We don’t know exactly how each person was disciplined. Cornell said they face a range of disciplinary measures, including expulsion and suspension. One of the details about the incident that has been particularly widely circulated is that disciplinary action included making some students write essays. Cornell University doesn’t deny this, but it specifically denies that students are only required to write essays as a disciplinary measure. The university cited privacy laws and said it was unable to reveal further details about how individual students were or were not punished.
What did Jane Doe do after first speaking to the police and then learning that the District Attorney would not press charges?
After she called the police, we know she remained on campus and she must have continued to see some of these men. She is also involved in the school’s Title IX investigation, which is ongoing for several months and will conclude sometime in 2025.
I want to ask you about DA. He publicly defended his decision not to press charges in 2024. How does he defend himself?
DA is an important part of the story. This is the Tompkins County District Attorney. His name is Matthew Van Houten. He also said that by 2024, they did not have the information needed to file criminal charges, based on Jane Doe’s written statement.
It is important to note that we, as the public, have not actually seen a copy of Jane Doe’s sworn statement. The district attorney issued a press release summarizing the announcement. In his summary, he described her account as voluntary, conscious and consensual. That’s inconsistent with some of the investigative documents we’ve seen since then, including the transcript of Jane Doe’s interview with Cornell police, in which she stated very confidently that she believed she was raped and even said she was physically assaulted that night.
The district attorney said he had not seen screenshots of Snapchat messages in which fraternity members spoke very crudely about the situation before the lawsuit was filed, and he said he had not seen transcripts of interviews between Jane Doe and police.
We now know the names of seven people who were present that night. Did they say anything?
The seven themselves have not said anything publicly, and lawyers for three of the seven have publicly denied the accusations. One said his client entered the room but left immediately and did not take part in the attack.
This is a very fast-moving story, and new information seems to be coming out every day. What do we know about what happens next?
So at least two things are happening here. A criminal investigation is currently being re-opened.
Separately, Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit last month that is unrelated to developments in the criminal investigation but will also target the university, seven fraternity members and the fraternity itself.