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Cornell University has banned all fraternity parties for the rest of the academic year and announced plans to add sexual assault investigators to its campus police force, as a high-profile gang rape case involving members of the Chi Phi fraternity continues to roil the Ithaca, New York campus.
The university announced the measures today, Tuesday (October 13), as student rallies in solidarity with the accuser — identified in court documents as Jane Doe — continue on campus this week.
The case centers on an alleged October 2024 incident at the Chi Phi fraternity house. Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit on September 16, 2026, against seven current and former fraternity members, Cornell University, and others. According to reporting from KFAN, the lawsuit alleges sexual assault, battery, negligence, and violations of New York's Human Rights Law, and claims the university failed to protect her and adequately punish those accused.
Cornell barred the Chi Phi chapter from campus following the alleged incident in 2024 and says it conducted a thorough Title IX investigation that resulted in expulsions and suspensions. "Any suggestion that the University did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false," the university said.