A former Cornell University student filed a lawsuit this month alleging she was drugged and gang raped inside a fraternity house in 2024, and the fresh scrutiny has prompted prosecutors to reopen the investigation. The 101-page lawsuit details disturbing allegations about what the woman, identified as Jane Doe, says unfolded inside Chi Phi’s frat house the night of October 19, 2024, and how the university and local prosecutors in Ithaca, New York, handled the case. Doe is accusing seven members of the frat of participating in the assault while she was unable to consent. The Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office said Monday it reopened the case to seek a grand jury review after being “asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members.” County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said no criminal charges were initially filed because Doe had not provided police in 2024 with the same key allegations outlined in the new lawsuit. Doe’s attorney says the information was promptly given to Cornell authorities, and the report was “not materially different from what is contained in the (2026) complaint.” The legal dispute, lack of criminal charges and university’s response has prompted fierce backlash and revived concerns about how schools respond to allegations of campus sexual assault. Here’s what we know: Warning: Graphic content Lawsuit alleges hours-long gang rape advertised in frat group text The complaint names more than a dozen defendants, including the seven fraternity members from 2024, Cornell University, and the Chi Phi fraternity. Allegations include negligence, breach of contract, sexual assault and battery, and violations of New York’s Human Rights Law. CNN has reached out to the Cornell University Police Department, the Chi Phi fraternity and others named in the lawsuit. The complaint says Doe was 20 years old and had been drinking at her sorority house and a bar before she arrived at the Chi Phi house to visit a friend, who was one of the fraternity members, on the night of October 19, 2024. According to the suit, Doe had already consumed about 10 standard drinks within the past 3 hours when she arrived at the fraternity house. The complaint alleges the friend and another fraternity member gave her more alcohol and pressured her into snorting a substance they described as ketamine, and that she was then sexually assaulted while “incapable of consent.” At roughly 1:42 a.m., one of the men allegedly sent a message to the fraternity’s Snapchat group chat – titled “Chi Phi Actives” – stating there was “free p*ssy” upstairs. By doing this, the suit alleges one of the accused “encouraged other XI CHAPTER members to join in on the gang rape of plaintiff.” A photo of a portion of the chat is included in the filing. Multiple fraternity members then entered the room, where the complaint alleges they pressured Doe into taking more ketamine and subjected her to an hours-long assault that continued until approximately 5:45 a.m. An attorney for one of the accused fraternity brothers denied any wrongdoing by his client. “Even the District Attorney’s Office, led by a chief prosecutor with the duty to pursue justice and uphold the rule of law without bias or favor, filed no charges against (him) because what she alleged did not happen,” attorney Jeremy Saland said in a statement to CNN. He said his client “never sexually assaulted or even touched the plaintiff in any way.” CNN is working to determine if the other fraternity brothers have representation. District attorney says Doe’s 2024 statement varies from new lawsuit The district attorney said the initial report Jane Doe made to university police differs significantly from the allegations in the lawsuit. Nothing in Doe’s original statement indicated she was drugged without consent or had sex against her will, Van Houten said. According to the accuser’s statement, “each time Jane Doe asked to stop the sexual conduct, the sexual conduct stopped.” Van Houten’s office has not released the full police report. CNN has asked Doe’s attorney for a response to Van Houten’s statement and for a copy of her complete 2024 police statement. During a contentious interview Monday, CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Van Houten on why there wasn’t a more expansive investigation from law enforcement or the DA’s office after the initial report was made in 2024. “We can’t change what happened in the past as much as the community is outraged,” Van Houten said. “My job under the New York State Constitution is to apply the penal law of New York State. We are constrained by that law. Whether you agree with it, whether you think someone’s conduct is morally repugnant or vulgar or disgusting. I’m still constrained by the law.” Van Houten acknowledged that the text message screen shots between the men “were completely vulgar and disgusting, but they had nothing to do with her consent.” Tapper asked when Van Houten got copies of the text messages, included in the complaint, that the fraternity brothers sent each other. Van Houten said that his team did not see the text messages evidence initially. “They were not part of our initial analysis, but I understand that Cornell had them, and they sent them to our team,” he said. Earlier, Doe’s attorney, Thomas P. Giuffra said in a statement he believes the initial investigation was inadequate. “It is challenging for me to understand how a thorough criminal investigation could have been conducted when she never spoke with anyone other than the officer who took her original complaint,” Giuffra said. “Other than her initial contact with Cornell Police, she was not contacted by investigators from the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office or any investigators trained in interviewing rape survivors,” Giuffra said. “If the District Attorney’s office is now considering prosecution, I believe that it is a step in the right direction, albeit a late one.” The Ithaca Police Department said in a statement Monday that it was “disturbed” to hear about the 2024 allegations. The department noted it learned about the alleged incident only recently through the media and said the incident was not reported to the agency. Complaint faults Cornell for failing to discipline the accused Doe reported the incident to the Cornell University Police Department on November 8, 2024, the complaint says. Doe’s attorney said Cornell expelled two of the seven accused students while the others received lesser punishment, including suspensions, workshops or written assignments. Cornell countered that claim Monday, saying there was a range of sanctions for the accused students, including suspensions and expulsions. But “none of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement,” the university said. In a September 21 statement, Cornell declined to confirm the individual disciplinary outcomes, citing federal student privacy law. The school said violations of university policy “could lead to sanctions up to and including suspension or expulsion,” adding, “We will respond in detail through the legal process.” The sanctions came after it conducted a formal Title IX investigation, separate from the criminal proceeding, and a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days, the school said. The school also said it had closed the chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity and remains barred from its campus. The lawsuit faults Cornell for failing to properly discipline after the assault, “all the while sheltering them from speaking to law enforcement, and silencing victims.” Cornell’s “conduct was so outrageous, shocking, despicable, and contemptible that it exceeds the reasonable bounds of decency as measured by what the average member of the community would tolerate and demonstrates an utter disregard for the consequences that would follow,” the lawsuit says. The complaint is seeking a jury trial to determine monetary damages. Cornell said in a statement Monday it “supports the decision of the Tompkins County District Attorney (DA) to provide an opportunity for the victim’s story … to be heard by a criminal grand jury.” “Any suggestion that the University did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the statement read. “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.” A growing backlash and calls for accountability The lawsuit — along with a lack of criminal charges and accusations of inadequate discipline — has drawn a wave of outrage. Ithaca Mayor Robert G. Cantelmo on Monday called for a pause on Cornell University’s Greek life and student group gatherings. The mayor said on Instagram that the moratorium would be in place “until such time that the University conducts an accounting of its protocols to prevent and prosecute crimes of sexual violence and publicly releases new standards and practices to keep our community safe.” A Cornell spokesperson said the university “shares the mayor’s interest in student well-being and safety. We will work with him to address his concerns.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York City, condemned what she described as a “culture of rape” at elite universities and institutions during a Sunday town hall in Ithaca. “Those men posted in a group chat,” Ocasio-Cortez said, referencing allegations in the lawsuit. “That means it was normal to them, that means it was acceptable to them. This is a culture, this is norms, these are practices, and what we must do is understand that we cannot protect those spaces anymore.” Actor Florence Pugh also posted an impassioned statement on Instagram Sunday, writing, “I’m no longer tired – I’m enraged by schools protecting boys, in fear of their futures being wrecked.” “What about the life that those girls then have to endure, with the knowledge that his reputation is more precious than her truth?” she added. Pugh also addressed Doe directly, calling her “so unbelievably powerful” and “so strong willed.” “Know that women everywhere are here to hold you and help you on your healing journey,” she wrote. By Danya Gainor, Holly Yan, Gloria Pazmino and Hanna Park, CNN --- If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:
