A Cornell University student gave campus police leads in the alleged rape of Jane Doe in 2024 but expressed dismay over how the authorities handled the case.
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authorities → give → case
The student, who spoke to NBC News on Sunday on condition of anonymity over concerns about repercussions, said she first heard about allegations that Doe was raped as a rumor on campus about 24 to 48 hours after the incident.
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Doe → speak → incident
Doe, who filed a lawsuit last month, claimed she was plied with alcohol and ketamine and gang-raped at the Chi Phi fraternity house the night of Oct. 19-20.
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she → file → Oct.
The student recalled rumors that Doe was planning to have a threesome but that it had “gone off the rails,” and she remembers being “really horrified by it.”
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she → recall → it
“From that night, I think, we just kind of started, like, hearing more,” the student said.
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student → think → more
Talk of the alleged sexual assault became widespread on campus after the school issued a crime safety alert about a report of a sexual assault at a fraternity.
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school → allege → fraternity
“The thing I think we all feel, like, betrayed in regards to is that, like, it wasn’t handled,” she said.
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she → think → regards
“When we got the police report, I think we all assumed it was being, you know, it would be, like, handled properly, yeah, and it was, like, in good hands.”
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it → get → hands
The student, who discussed details corroborated by documents reviewed by NBC News, said she and a friend initially gave a tip to authorities after the crime alert was issued.
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alert → discuss → authorities
Police later called her and asked her to come in and speak with them days after Doe reported the incident to Cornell police on Nov. 8.
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Doe → call → Nov.
The student said she decided to go to police after she saw screenshots of a Chi Phi group message on Snapchat and because “it felt like the right thing to do if we could help this girl.”
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we → say → girl
Doe’s lawsuit included a screenshot of a Chi Phi Snapchat group message that said there was “free p----” in a room in the frat house where Doe was the night she alleges she was assaulted.
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she → include → house
“That was, like, when I kind of internally made the decision.
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I → make → decision
OK, like, I’m taking this all in, and then I’m going to the police tomorrow,” the student said.
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student → take → police
She recalled sitting with one or two officers for about half an hour during her interview with police.
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She → recall → police
“They seemed fairly competent.
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They → seem → ?
It seemed like a normal interview process to me,” she said.
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she → seem → me
She said she walked them through everything she knew, including that fraternity members were messaging about the events of that evening with Doe and about potential witnesses.
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members → say → witnesses
She also gave police secondhand information about drug use at Chi Phi and said she is familiar with the frat house and believed she knew where ketamine was alleged to be kept.
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ketamine → give → house
“I guess I assumed that, like, I wasn’t enough,” the student said.
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student → guess → ?
Cornell did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday on the student’s account to police.
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Cornell → respond → police
In a video statement Saturday, President Michael I. Kotlikoff called the allegations “deeply disturbing” and said they raise questions about the investigations that were conducted.
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that → call → investigations
He said he welcomes an independent review of how the university handled the matter, which will be conducted by an outside law firm.
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which → say → firm
Police records obtained by NBC News showed that Cornell police spoke to multiple witnesses and fielded anonymous tips about the allegations of a gang rape at the fraternity house — but that the information was not referred to the local prosecutor for review in his deciding whether to bring charges.
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his → obtain → charges
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten told NBC News on Friday that the interviews that were flagged “were each of the frat members declining to speak on the advice of their attorney.”
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each → tell → attorney
He did not respond to a follow-up request asking whether he was told about interviews with other fraternity members in addition to tips from callers.
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he → respond → callers
Van Houten ultimately determined the allegations did not warrant charges because of a lack of criminality.
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allegations → determine → criminality
Doe’s suit has sparked uproar and criticism of Cornell and Van Houten’s handling of her allegations.
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suit → spark → allegations
Van Houten has since agreed to reopen his inquiry into Doe’s allegations, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week named state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the matter.
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Hochul → agree → matter
The student who spoke with campus police criticized how the department handled the matter.
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department → speak → matter
While students believed there was an active investigation into Doe’s claims, people continued going to Chi Phi, including the room at the center of the allegations.
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people → believe → allegations
Within Greek life at Cornell, “rumors spread fast,” the student said, and even if you did not know Doe or the men, “you knew someone who did.”
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who → spread → someone
Doe’s lawsuit named Cornell, Chi Phi and the seven fraternity brothers among the defendants.
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lawsuit → name → defendants
None of the seven has been criminally charged.
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None → charge → seven
The fraternity was suspended from campus, and it remains barred.
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it → suspend → campus
Cornell said in a statement Sept. 28 that it conducted a thorough, monthslong Title IX investigation that handed down “a range of sanctions which included expulsions and suspensions” from the university.
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which → say → university
Attorneys for two of the seven men have denied to NBC News that they sexually assaulted Doe.
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they → deny → Doe
An attorney for a third man denied the allegations to ABC News.
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attorney → deny → News
NBC News has not received responses to requests for comment from the five other men.
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News → receive → men
Chi Phi’s national fraternity condemned sexual assault and drug and alcohol abuse in a statement Wednesday.
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fraternity → condemn → statement
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
