Cornell University Bans Fraternity Parties Amid Lawsuit

Cornell University announced on Tuesday that it will prohibit parties at fraternity houses for the remainder of the academic year. This decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a former student who claims she was gang raped at a fraternity house in October 2024.

The Ivy League institution has paired the ban with a commitment to incorporate independent sexual assault investigators into its campus police department, as reported by the New York Times. This action is part of the university’s effort to address a wave of criticism following the allegations made by a woman identified as Jane Doe.

In a letter to the campus community, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff acknowledged the school’s shortcomings. He expressed deep regret for the trauma Jane Doe experienced and condemned the occurrence of sexual violence within the Cornell community.

The ban affects all social events at fraternity houses, impacting a significant portion of the student body, one-third of whom participate in Greek life. The timing of this announcement is particularly notable, coming just days before Homecoming weekend. Anne Smalling, chair of Cornell’s board of trustees, characterized this move as a necessary reset.

“We need to explore alternative ways for students to socialize,” Smalling emphasized.

The university has also committed to hiring trauma-informed investigators outside of Cornell and increasing staff in its civil rights office. These steps are intended to rectify administrative shortcomings highlighted by the handling of Doe’s case. Although campus police conducted extensive interviews with her in November 2024, her account was reduced to a six-page summary for the district attorney that omitted her assertion of being “100 percent certain” she had been raped.

District Attorney Matthew Van Houten initially declined to pursue charges and dismissed a police request to review further evidence, according to the Times. However, after Doe filed her lawsuit, he reopened the case in late September, with New York Attorney General Letitia James now overseeing it at the request of Governor Kathy Hochul.

All three individuals—Hochul, James, and Van Houten—are Democrats.

Van Houten has stated that Doe’s sworn declaration from 2024 detailed her drug use and sexual interactions that night as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual.” This contradicts the allegations detailed in the lawsuit filed almost two years later. Thus far, none of the men accused have been charged, and they all maintain their innocence.

The decision to ban parties follows an internal Title IX process at Cornell that resulted in the expulsion of two men and the suspension of two others after a series of hearings in March 2025. The fraternity in question, Chi Phi, has been prohibited from operating on campus. Meanwhile, the faculty senate has initiated a rare no-confidence resolution against the university’s administration.