In 2024, seven male Cornell University students did unspeakable things to a 20-year-old female Cornell junior for hours. She was pressured to snort ketamine (which she had never used before) to the point she was incoherent and unconscious at times.
The assault occurred at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house after she went there in an intoxicated state looking for a friend.
The incident was dealt with and the consequences were minimal. It seemed like it was in the past and the 7 perps had gone on to live their lives. On September 16th, the case was reopened when a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jane Doe.
The "Cornell 7"
The 7 fraternity students accused:
• Matthew Ingalls - Jane Doe went to the fraternity house that night to see Ingalls, whom she considered a friend.
• Johnathan Newell - Newell is the one who posted a message in the Snapchat group advertising sexual access to Jane Doe, after which additional fraternity members entered the room. He is also the one who slapped her around hard enough to leave bruises.
• Winston Lee - changed his name to Jay Lee
• Gillio Lopes
• Diego Sarabia. (has been fired from his job with Wells Fargo)
• Scott Norris - He added "Freeeee" to Newell's group chat invitation.
• Scott Kretzschmar
Two of the "perpetrators" were expelled after an internal investigation by Cornell – while the other five were allowed to resume their studies at the Ivy League institution after writing an essay, attending a workshop, or serving a short suspension.
All of the men have denied any wrongdoing. None were ever arrested or charged. Their fraternity, Chi Phi, has been banned from campus.
The "Cornell 57"
While the unspeakable thing was going on, there was a group Snapchat conversation. 57 students were part of the group. Not a single one of them stopped it, questioned it, called the police, or protected that girl.
At 1:42 a.m. on the date of the alleged rape, a message was sent to the group chat suggesting a woman was available for sex - that there was “free pussy upstairs”. More men showed up after this text.
“Like you can walk in and whip it out,” one brother replied, while others said “I f–king love chi phi” and “CHI PHIII,” according to a screenshot included in the suit.
"Shop still open?" one fraternity brother wrote later. The response was "Yea."
The 57 on the group chat:
Andrew Hage, Henry Malarkey,Evan Beyers, Johnny Lewis, Matt Luebke, Andrew Solnik, Bennet Mccomb, Danny Rusk, Luke Verzella, Ben Stewart, Jullian Bennet, Cole Chapmin, Ryan Cordi, X'avier DaCosta, Erik Williams, Pierce Fine, Matthew Ingalls, Matt Hellerman, Alex Jordan, Michel Keschner, Scott Kretzschumar, Evan Lewis, Jonathan Lim, Matt McAuley, Winston Lee, AJ Nambier, Scott Norris, Chin Okasi, Gabriel Panicuic, Gillio Lopes, Aaron Seth, Ryan Shim, Milo Skolnick, Sean Su, Lucas Suero, Johnathan Newell, Jack Tapper, Blake Haberstock, Brett Kaufman, Diego Sarabia, Henry Friedburg, Will Anderson, Jason Chung, John Kowalcyk, Lucas Maley, Matthew Calarco, Matthew Keebler, Matthew Meakem, Matthew Pilc, Miles Bramwit, Nate Meakem, Nicolas Gonzalez.
Jane Doe
The victim is being called by JANE DOE, but there are a number of folks trying to out her. Jane Doe's lawyer told CNN that after the assault she wanted to go home and heal, but Cornell refused to refund her tuition. He says she stayed another semester, regularly encountering the men who assaulted her. She later dropped out.
The Initial Investigation
Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins county, New York, district attorney originally passed on prosecuting anyone. Van Houten said all he had received was a 6-page, single-spaced, typewritten statement submitted by campus police that “did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang-raped.” The original statement taken by Cornell was around 120 pages.
“I had become extremely uncomfortable with how this night was turning out so my thought was, if I do ketamine again maybe I will pass out,” the statement read, according to the outlet.
“My thought was that if I passed out and these men had sex with me, then they could be charged with rape.”
In a transcript from Doe’s interview with campus police on Nov. 14-15, 2024, she told authorities: “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.” This statement was not in the condensed version that was given to the DA.
“It was coercion,” read another line from the transcript, obtained by CBS News, along with descriptions of Doe saying she was “completely and totally incapacitated” during the encounter.
Doe made those blunt and startling statements when she met with campus police and a Title IX investigator to discuss the incident, which she’d become increasingly alarmed by in the three weeks since.
According to the records, the police did offer Mr. Van Houten more evidence to review, but he declined to do so.
After the incident, the university conducted its own investigation.
The renowned Ithaca university’s Title IX office also conducted a lengthy investigation, compiling more than 1,000 documents, including interviews with Doe’s friends and roommates, the accused fraternity brothers and the alleged victim herself, as well as scores of text messages, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Those documents paint a picture of a young sorority girl traumatized by what she’d experienced in the immediate aftermath, with the full gravity of the situation taking days and weeks to sink in. - NYPost
A three-member panel at the school met on Zoom over 12 days in May 2025 and expelled two men, barred one who had graduated from campus, suspended two and gave lighter punishments to the rest, according to the documents. The panel did not conclude that Jane Doe was sexually assaulted by all the men she had accused.
New York governor, Kathy Hochul said she had lost faith in Mr. Van Houten and appointed the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, to review the evidence and determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
“One of the most important issues in the civil litigation will be what Cornell knew, how university officials responded and whether they failed in their legal obligation to protect the student. Civil litigation can expose institutional failures that a criminal prosecution may never address.” - Sarah Klein, a prominent civil attorney who specializes in representing survivors of sexual abuse
Cornell's Record Regarding Sexual Assault
More than 1,200 incidents of sexual assault, dating and domestic violence and stalking were reported to Cornell University’s Title IX office from 2018 through 2024, USA TODAY found in an exclusive analysis of data the school reported to New York state.
Of those, Cornell filed disciplinary charges against an accused student or employee in 162 cases. It found at least one of them at fault in 51.
Most of those found responsible received minor sanctions that allowed them to remain on campus, such as probation or training, the data show.
Fourteen cases resulted in suspensions.
Seven ended in expulsion or dismissal.
PERSONAL COMMENT
Looking back on my youth, I am experiencing a lot of mixed emotions. I had ME TOO incidents, like so many, but I survived. I entered high school feeling carefree with a world of possibilities to look forward to. By the time I graduated from college, I was jaded and haunted. I am wondering what kind of talks someone could have had with me before that might have prepared me for what I would be facing. What could they have told me that would instantly take me from being trusting and open to ultra cautious. That would have been quite a scary talk. It seems we are not preparing our girls and we are not bringing up our boys to be better than the bear. (see
Man or bear? A viral question has spawned scary responses)
READ MORE
The Cornell 7 - (caution - this site includes more details of the incident than I have included in this post)
This site will document the account of the woman who was sexually assaulted by seven members of Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024, the lawsuit she has filed, and the institutional response surrounding her case... The goal is to build a record that can withstand scrutiny. This will take time. It will be careful. It will be documented. And there will be accountability.
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now - The Cut, New York
If you’re an outsider to American universities, you might think that students are simply out of control, and that disciplinary processes are similarly lax for other infringements. But that is not accurate. Compare this to how the university punishes protesters. In the spring of 2024, Cornell issued temporary suspensions for four students protesting the war in Gaza. Specifically, these students urged the university to divest its holdings in companies that supported the genocide of Palestinians. To draw more attention to their cause, they staged the protest in a central area of campus where protests are not permitted without authorization. One of these students was my own advisee, and having supported her throughout the the months-long case, I can state with confidence that she did nothing wrong. Moreover, she happens to be deaf and was suspended in part for being “unreasonably loud.”
WHO TO CONTACT
CHI PHI LEADERSHIP
The Xi Chapter at Cornell was a branch of the Chi Phi fraternity. According to them, their mission is "to build better men."
885 Woodstock Road, Suite 430-389
Roswell, GA 30075-2274
404.231.1824
CORNELL PRESIDENT
Office of the President
300 Day Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
president@cornell.edu
(607) 255-5201 or (607) 255-9924
TITLE IX OFFICE
(Formerly the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX)
Day Hall, Suite 500 (Fifth Floor)
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-2242
CORNELL UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPARTMENT
ERIC R. STICKEL
*Current CHIEF OF POLICE
117 Statler Drive
G2 Barton Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: (607) 255-1111
Office of the Chief: (607) 255-8945
* Anthony Bellamy, who was Chief of Cornell University Police Department at the time of the incident, retired from CUPD in October of 2025 and went to work with the Ithaca Police Department as a deputy chief. He had been with CUPD for over 21 years. - Cornell Chronicle
VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
University Relations
314 Day Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-9029
Kimball was not Cornell's vice president for University Relations when the allegations were reported. He joined Cornell in September 2025 and is relevant to Cornell's response to renewed scrutiny in 2026. He leads the university-relations operation responsible for Cornell's current public response, rather than the administration that originally handled the matter in 2024. In September 2026, Cornell disputed claims about the disciplinary consequences imposed on students and characterized the continued presentation of what it called a false narrative about minimal consequences as “irresponsible.”
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK
The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
(518) 474-8390
