A lawsuit has been filed alleging that seven members of a Cornell fraternity drugged a 20-year-old woman with ketamine and assaulted her over several hours, during which they encouraged others to join in. The unnamed former student, referred to in court documents as Jane Doe, has taken legal action against these seven brothers from Chi Phi, as well as the university, various sorority organizations, and a local bar in Manhattan Supreme Court, as reported by the Cornell Daily Sun. Interestingly, no criminal charges have been brought in this matter, according to the Tompkins County District Attorney’s office, as noted by the New York Post.
The lawsuit, which spans 101 pages, highlights disturbing group-chat messages sent while the woman was being assaulted. One person allegedly texted “free p—y” in a Snapchat group titled “Chi Phi Actives” at 1:42 a.m., with another responding by calling it “crazy work.” A third individual even suggested that others could “walk in and whip it out,” according to evidence presented in court and detailed by the Post.
Prior to the incident, the woman had been out drinking, visiting a sorority house, a nightclub, and another bar before heading to the fraternity house on Edgemoor Lane in Ithaca on October 19, 2024. After declining a request for a threesome from one of the defendants, she claims that she was pressured into trying ketamine for the first time. The alleged assaults continued until around 5:45 a.m. the following day, as detailed in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit further claims that one of the fraternity members demanded the woman to snort the drug off his genitals.
As of now, none of the seven accused individuals has responded to the claims, and none are facing any criminal charges. The defendants include Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, and Scott Kretzschmar, as mentioned by the Daily Sun.
According to the lawsuit, Cornell provided these fraternity members an opportunity to “mitigate their conduct by submitting essays,” although the university has not confirmed this claim, as per the Post. The fraternity chapter was suspended, along with the students, in November 2024, with the university labeling the reported behavior as “abhorrent and cannot be tolerated within our community,” according to a statement by then-Interim President Michael Kotlikoff. While a Title IX investigation has reportedly concluded, the Ithaca police are still looking into the case, as noted by the Daily Sun.
The plaintiff has expressed her feelings on this distressing event, stating, “What happened to me was horrific and deeply disturbing,” in a comment to the Daily Sun.
