Cornell University has banned fraternity parties for the rest of the 2026-2027 academic year in response to an explosive lawsuit from a female student alleging she had been sexually assaulted by seven men at the Chi Phi house in 2024.
University President Michael Kotlikoff made the announcement in a message to the campus community Tuesday, in which he also pledged the school would provide "better support for survivors."
"All parties and social events in Interfraternity Council (IFC) houses at Cornell will be suspended for the remainder of the 2026-2027 academic year," Kotlikoff wrote.
"These measures will provide time for a thorough review of fraternity life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue."
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He added that there would be "zero tolerance for violations." Any fraternity holding a party or "social event" would face immediate suspension, he said. In the meantime, he said the school would be looking for ways to have "safe social alternatives."
The student behind the lawsuit, identified only as Jane Doe in court filings, raised a series of alarming allegations last month, prompting New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to appoint the state attorney general's office as a special prosecutor to investigate the claims.
Cornell also hired former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to conduct a review of her own.
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Cornell disciplined some of the young men named in the lawsuit, but none had faced criminal charges.
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At least two of the accused men have asked the courts to have New York Attorney General Letitia James recused from the case over concerns that she tweeted support for the victim before her office was designated special prosecutor.
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The alleged gang rape took place overnight from Oct. 19 to Oct. 20, 2024. Doe initially reported the incident to university police on Nov. 8, 2024. The school suspended the fraternity and opened an investigation, but Tompkins County prosecutors declined to file charges based on a six-page sworn statement signed by Doe that did not include the most explosive allegations in a reported transcript of her interview with detectives.
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"The statement - especially as it relates to the legal definition of 'lack of consent' - provides a different narrative and set of facts of the events of October 19, 2024, than those alleged in the lawsuit," Tompkins County District Attorney Matt Van Houten wrote in a statement posted to his website last month.
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Doe made more than 20 "handwritten notations" in the six-page document, he said. When confronted with reports that she had made more explicit allegations about the case in her interview with police, Van Houten said that changed his view of the case.
Fox News' Michelle Langer contributed to this report.
