Cornell suspends all frat parties as alleged gang rape fuels continued calls for action

Cornell suspends all frat parties as alleged gang rape fuels continued calls for action

'Zero tolerance' for violating new directive, university president says

Cornell University has suspended all frat parties and events for the rest of the 2026-27 academic year, president Michael Kotlikoff announced Tuesday, as an alleged gang rape at one of the school's fraternities continues to fuel calls for action and accountability.

Kotlikoff, who has faced pressure to resign over the case, said there would be "zero tolerance" for any violations of the new directive.

"Any fraternity holding an in-house party or social event will receive an immediate emergency suspension," he said in a written statement posted on Cornell's website.

It's among a series of measures Kotlikoff said the university is taking "to strengthen campus safety, better support survivors and begin addressing the social context of sexual violence at Cornell."

The case has drawn international media attention after a woman filed a lawsuit last month against the university and her alleged assailants.

The high-profile Cornell 7 case has sparked a conversation about sexual violence

The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, has accused seven members of Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity of raping her at the frat house in October 2024, while she was incapacitated.

The case set off a wave of protests, including on the university campus in Ithaca, N.Y., and calls for justice and, more broadly, an end to sexual violence.

What to know about the case of the 'Cornell 7'

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The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a free speech advocacy group in the U.S., said the ban on fraternity events amounts to "punishing an entire community for the alleged actions of a few."

"Cornell has every right to investigate misconduct and hold responsible organizations accountable for their members' actions. But punishing students who had no involvement is guilt by association," the group said in a social media post.

Earlier this month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Letitia James, the state's attorney general, as a special prosecutor to investigate the case.

Cornell also said last week that it had appointed Sally Yates, a former U.S. deputy attorney general, to review how the school "prevents and responds to sexual harassment, sexual assault and related misconduct on campus."

That includes a review of how the university responded to Doe's allegations, it said.

Students march at UBC in support of alleged Cornell University gang-rape victim

In Tuesday's statement, Kotlikoff said the university would appoint a dedicated case manager to help individuals who report sexual misconduct navigate processes such as housing and academic accommodations.

Kotlikoff also said Cornell would allow criminal investigators from the New York State Police, who are independent of the university, to investigate sex assault allegations on campus.

Campus police, who have full law enforcement powers but are controlled by the university, generally investigate crimes reported on Cornell's campus.

Last week, more than 100 people took part in a sit-in at Cornell to show support for Jane Doe, according to a report in student newspaper The Cornell Daily Sun. Calls for Kotlikoff, the university president, to resign also continue.

Scott MacLeod and Susan Hack, co-founders of The Sophie Fund, a local mental health non-profit, wrote in a Cornell Daily Sun op-ed on Tuesday that Kotlikoff has lost "the confidence of many Ithaca citizens, as well as Cornell students, staff, faculty and alumni."

"We are demanding that Kotlikoff be replaced by a leader who will unequivocally embrace the need for, and execute, immediate and robust zero-tolerance policies and practices toward terminating the rape culture at Cornell," they wrote.

Jillian Kestler-D'Amours is a senior writer at CBC based in Montreal. You can reach her at jillian.kestler-d.amours@cbc.ca.

With files from The Associated Press