Cornell president says school “must do better” amid criticism of its investigation

Cornell University President Michael I. Kotlikoff said Saturday his school’s administration “must do better” amid the criticism and fallout of its investigation into allegations made by a former student that she was gang-raped at a fraternity in 2024. 

“I believe we as an administration and we as a community must do better,” Kotlikoff said in a video message posted online Saturday. “We must do everything we can to prevent what happened to Jane Doe and everyone before her and anyone after her from ever happening again.” 

The former student, identified only as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit last month against the university and seven men, alleging she was drugged and raped in October 2024 at the university’s Chi Phi fraternity chapter when she was 20 years old. 

“This has been one of the most difficult weeks in our history, and I know many of you are angry, saddened and struggling,” Kotlikoff said.  

Back in 2024, the Tompkins County district attorney found that “there was insufficient evidence to support criminal charges.” No criminal charges have been filed in the case.   

However, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said this week that he was never given the full transcript of Jane Doe’s two-day interview with campus police that occurred in November 2024, about three weeks after the incident, but was only presented a six-page sworn statement based on that interview. 

Cornell University initially said its police department provided the results of the school’s Title IX investigation to the DA. However, in an FAQ published on its website regarding the allegations, the university said in an Oct. 1 update that it “shared the victim’s sworn statement and the Snapchat screenshot with the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office, which is the established protocol if the department believes it is possible a crime has occurred.” 

The Snapchat screenshot refers to a Snapchat group chat that involved members of the Chi Phi fraternity on the night of the alleged rape. 

Van Houten said this week he is reopening the investigation, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has been publicly critical of Van Houten’s approach to the case, said she had appointed State Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to lead the investigation.

Kotlikoff revealed that the school would be hiring an outside law firm to conduct an “independent review” of “all aspects of Cornell’s handling of the 2024 matter.” The school has said that it supports the state’s criminal probe, which Kotlikoff reiterated Saturday. 

The school president admitted the situation “raises questions around the investigations conducted after the allegations were reported.” 

Kotlikoff earlier this week disclosed that the school’s Title IX investigation resulted in two of the accused being expelled and two being suspended for at least two semesters. One had already graduated before any punishment could be handed down, Kotlikoff  said, and two were found not to be responsible for sexual misconduct.   

“I also hear the frustration that Cornell has not communicated enough about what the university did after the assault was reported, which has led to distrust,” Kotlikoff said in his video. “There are real legal and privacy limits on what we can say, but we will make greater effort to explain what we can, to provide context about the actions Cornell has taken, and to be more transparent.”  

He noted that in 2025, in the wake of the initial investigation into Jane Doe’s allegations, the university established the Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault and endorsed the task force’s recommendations.

Kotlikoff said in the coming weeks, the university will create opportunities for community members, including parents of current students, to question and talk to school leadership.

“This is a defining moment in Cornell’s history,” Kotlikoff said. “We must lead the way. We owe it to Jane Doe and to survivors of assault to get this right. And we must keep each other safe.”