Cornell University has enlisted former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to review the university’s policies for preventing and responding to sexual assault and to examine Cornell’s response to allegations involving “Jane Doe” and members of the Chi Phi fraternity from October 2024, the university said.
The university said Yates will conduct a “detailed review of the University’s response to the allegations involving Jane Doe and members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024, including whether Cornell followed its policies and procedures in responding to the matter.”
Anne Meinig Smalling, chair of the Cornell University Special Committee of the Board of Trustees, said Yates will undertake a “rigorous examination” of Cornell’s handling of the issue and of the university’s broader approach to preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.
Cornell said the review will examine policies, practices and resources across prevention and response, including how reports are received and investigated; how students are supported; how hearings, disciplinary decisions and appeals are handled; the role and response of campus police; coordination with other law enforcement agencies and prosecutors; campus safety reporting; and policies and oversight involving fraternities, sororities and other student organizations. The review will also examine the Board’s oversight of these issues, the university said.
Seven former Chi Phi fraternity members are accused in a lawsuit of drugging and raping a female Cornell student at the fraternity house in October 2024, the report said. The accuser, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleges the men sexually assaulted her after she arrived intoxicated and was pressured into taking ketamine and other substances. The men have denied wrongdoing; some say the sex was consensual and others deny participating, the report said. No criminal charges have been filed.
The New York Attorney General’s office has said it is conducting an “active criminal investigation” after Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed the Office of the Attorney General as special prosecutor, and Cornell has separately agreed to retain outside counsel to conduct an independent review, the university said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
