Everything we know about the reopened investigation into the Chi Phi fraternity
Dave Collins and John Seewer
Connecticut: A New York prosecutor has reopened an investigation into gang-rape allegations at a Cornell University fraternity house in response to a lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was sexually assaulted in 2024 by seven students after being plied with alcohol and drugs.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew van Houten said on Monday (US time) that his office would present evidence to a grand jury as he faced questions from the public about why there were no criminal prosecutions in the case.
The woman, identified only by a pseudonym in the lawsuit, filed the complaint this month, saying she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house on the Ivy League campus in October 2024 after being pressured into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol.
She became completely incapacitated and “heinous criminal sexual acts” were committed against her by the seven frat members, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit, the reopening of the investigation and Cornell’s response have sparked a flood of commentary on social media. Many people have criticised the school and the district attorney’s office in their posts, while some have expressed doubt about the lawsuit’s allegations. Some posted photos of the seven fraternity members.
The accuser is suing the men, the Chi Phi fraternity, the university, an Ithaca bar and others, seeking undisclosed damages. Her lawyer did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the prosecutor’s decision.
The woman went to campus police at the time, but van Houten said the accuser did not make any claims of being gang-raped or drugged in her initial sworn statement to authorities. The prosecutor also said he was never contacted by the woman’s lawyer about her statement or about reconsidering the decision not to prosecute, but he reached out to the lawyer recently.
“Seeking justice sometimes requires us to reconsider or reopen cases when we are provided with additional evidence,” van Houten said in a statement. “I have been asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members. I have already begun that process, starting with our conversation with Jane Doe and her attorneys.”
The university said in a statement that it supported the decision to reopen the investigation. The school said it had conducted its own investigation and issued sanctions, including expelling some students and suspending others. It also said the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.
School officials on Monday declined to release more information on the sanctions, including how many students were expelled and suspended, citing federal privacy laws.
“Any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false,” the university said. “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.”
The national chapter of Chi Phi did not return phone and email messages on Monday.
The school said it had conducted an internal disciplinary investigation in 2024. It said a panel of trained faculty and staff heard evidence over multiple days, and both the woman and the people accused had the opportunity to testify and present evidence.
The woman’s complaint accuses the university of not preventing the alleged assaults and failing to properly address sexual violence on campus. It includes a photo that it says shows a group chat between frat members discussing the night’s events.
The woman, who was a 20-year-old Cornell student at the time and a sorority member, went to campus police about three weeks later, according to the lawsuit. The fraternity and seven of its members were placed on temporary suspension on that same day, the lawsuit said.
The complaint said the seven were given “the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell”.
Cornell said “none of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement”, noting the expulsions and suspensions.
Over the weekend, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned what she called a “culture of rape” protected at elite institutions.
“When I read what happened at Cornell, those men posted in a group chat. That means it was normal to them. That means it was acceptable to them. This is a culture,” she said at a forum packed with young people near Cornell’s campus.
“And what we must do is understand that we cannot protect those spaces any more.”
Cornell said a school taskforce on campus sexual assault, formed in 2025, made recommendations this year, several of which had been implemented while others were in development.
The taskforce report said a 2025 school survey showed 35 per cent of undergraduate women and 8 per cent of undergraduate men reported experiencing sexual assault during their time at Cornell.
Since the lawsuit was filed, the prosecutor said, his office had been flooded with phone calls, voicemails and emails about the case from people seeking answers and others making insults and threats.
“The community outrage stemming from the incomplete news and social media coverage requires that I provide an answer to why the investigation resulted in a lack of criminal charges,” van Houten said.
Eeshaan Chaudhuri, a Cornell senior and president of the student body, said there needed to be a fresh look at the university’s initial investigation and why the district attorney’s office did not do more.
There also needs to be an examination of the culture at the fraternity, he said.
“This issue poses more of a broader question, not just at Cornell,” he said. “Obviously, these things can’t be fixed overnight.”
AP
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