Just two Cornell University students who were found responsible for sexual assaults on campus in the years before seven fraternity brothers were accused of gang rape had been expelled – and one other was asked to write a 'reflection paper' as punishment.
The Ivy League institution had reviewed 51 formal complaints about sexual assault between mid-2020 and mid-2024, with a Title IX investigation concluding the accused students were responsible in 16 cases, CNN reports.
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CNN → find → cases
But only two students were expelled during that time period, with six others reprimanded and seven students receiving other punishments including written reprimands, disciplinary probation, directed study and no-contact orders.
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others → expel → reprimands
Directed study involves a requirement to read or watch 'relevant materials' and to 'discuss those materials and how they apply' to their case, according to a guide posted by Cornell's Office of Civil Rights.
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they → involve → Rights
Those reading materials may include 'an impact letter written by the complainant,' it notes.
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it → read → complainant
In several cases in which a sexual assault complaint was withdrawn without a Title IX hearing taking place, the alleged attacker was given other sanctions such as writing an 'Accountability Reflection Paper' or an 'Apology Letter.'
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attacker → withdraw → Paper
The university has not yet published data about sexual assault reports for the school year starting in fall 2024, when a woman identified only as Jane Doe claims she was raped by seven students at the Chi Phi fraternity, or for more recent years.
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she → publish → years
It also remains unclear how many of the reported sexual assaults resulted in criminal investigations, which would run concurrently with the school's probe.
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which → remain → probe
Just two students Cornell University officials found responsible of sexual assault between mid-2020 and mid-2024 were expelled from the New York campus (pictured), according to a damning report
But the school's lax punishments have drawn reprimands from community members over the years.
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punishments → find → years
Jennifer Brownell, executive director of the Advocacy Center of Tompkins County, a nonprofit Cornell refers students to that offers counseling for sexual violence victims, for example, called the punishments 'infuriating.
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that → refer → punishments
'Should they be expelled?
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they → expel → ?
I don't know.
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I → know → ?
Yes,' she declared.
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she → declare → ?
Former student Kacey Lee also told CNN how she felt 'betrayed' by school officials after the student that they found responsible for assaulting her was punished in 2023 with disciplinary probation, a no-contact order and a directed study that included a 'reflection paper,' but was not expelled.
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that → tell → paper
The Title IX panel, comprising faculty and staff at the university, had concluded her alleged attacker's actions 'caused significant harm but were not taken with malicious intent' and that 'education in affirmative consent and related topics was likely to prevent the respondent from engaging in similar misconduct in the future.'
When she then read the panel's decision, Lee said it felt like her alleged assailant 'just got an extra homework assignment.'
'In a way, they were telling me it just wasn't bad enough,' she claimed.
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she → comprise → me
She now says she regrets even bringing the situation to the school's Title IX Office.
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she → say → Office
'To know that I went through it all for this illusion of accountability felt even worse.'
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I → know → accountability
Kacey Lee, a former student at Cornell University, told CNN how she was left disappointed after the student that school officials found responsible for sexually assaulting her was punished in 2023 with a 'reflection paper' and other measures
The school's lax punishments for students found responsible of sexual assault has drawn reprimands from community members
Protesters are pictured at a rally in support of a former Cornell University student known as Jane Doe on Tuesday
Others claimed the university's Title IX Office ignored significant evidence that allowed attackers to evade responsibility – and sometimes attack again, with one former student saying a colleague assaulted her multiple times and once made her bleed before he allegedly struck again a year later.
Jane Doe, meanwhile, has claimed she was coerced into taking drugs and sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at an off-campus house on October 19, 2024.
The three-member disciplinary panel ultimately concluded that Jane Doe was not sexually assaulted by all of the men she had accused, according to records obtained by The New York Times.
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she → tell → Times
Instead, the panel found that only Matthew Ingalls, who had invited Jane Doe to the fraternity house, and Jonathan Newell, who engaged in a threesome with Jane Doe and Ingalls, were responsible for sexual assault.
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who → find → assault
The two men were then expelled from the school.
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men → expel → school
But five other men named in Doe's civil lawsuit received lighter punishments, with Winston Lee and Gillio Lopes receiving suspension and disciplinary probation orders and a third former fraternity member, Diego Sarabia, barred from campus for three years.
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member → name → years
He had already graduated from the school by the time the disciplinary measures were handed down.
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measures → graduate → time
The other two men, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar, were ordered not to contact Jane Doe, to study sexual harassment, social media use and bystander intervention and to write 'reflection papers.'
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men → order → papers
They were not part of the alleged attack but were accused of entering the room after Newell allegedly posted in a fraternity Snapchat group that there was 'free p***y' upstairs.
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Newell → allege → group
The Chi Phi fraternity was also shut down in the aftermath.
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fraternity → shut → aftermath
Umar Matthew Ingalls and Jonathan Newell were expelled from the school after Jane Doe accused seven fraternity members of gang raping her in October 2024
One of the men allegedly posted to the fraternity's active-members Snapchat group saying that there was 'free p***y' upstairs, referring to Doe, according to the filing, which included an image of the purported chat
All of the accused men have denied any wrongdoing, and were never charged with any crimes after prosecutors ruled there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges.
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prosecutors → expel → charges
But the Tompkins County District Attorney's Office has since reopened the case, and the school officials have hired Sally Yates, a former Obama-appointed justice official who was infamously fired by President Donald Trump, to investigate its response to gang rape allegations.
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who → reopen → allegations
In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the school said the university takes sexual misconduct allegations 'extremely seriously.'
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university → say → allegations
He said the university 'investigates reports through established processes, providing support and resources to those who come forward.'
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who → say → those
The statement also noted that the university expanded in-person sexual violence prevention education this year to all first-year students, and in a separate interview with The New York Times, University President Michael Kotlikoff claimed his creation of a presidential task force in February 2025 to address sexual assault on campus was a sign his administration took the issue seriously.
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administration → note → issue
'We don't set up a presidential task force for minor issues,' he said, adding that the school's steps were meant to reassure parents worried about their children on campus.
'
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steps → set → campus
I've had a number of conversations with parents.
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I → have → parents
I think this is a difficult conversation, particularly with the public that's gotten so much different information about what actually went on and aren't aware of these processes, and the complexity of a Title IX process,' Kotlikoff said.
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Kotlikoff → think → process
'We take the issue seriously, that we respond, that we heard the concerns, and we're responding in specific ways that address those concerns.'
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that → take → concerns
Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff claimed his creation of a presidential task force in February 2025 to address sexual assault on campus was a sign his administration took the issue seriously
Kotlikoff also told The New York Times that the heavy use of ketamine and alcohol by students discovered during the Title IX investigation is not unique to Cornell.
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use → claim → Cornell
'I think that this is a problem that relates to 20-year-olds, 21-year-olds leaving home for the first time, coming into an environment where there's access to alcohol, where there is, unfortunately, in some cases, access to drugs,' he said.
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he → think → drugs
Cornell has since banned all fraternity parties for the rest of the year.
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Cornell → ban → year
Meanwhile, the Cornell faculty senate has said it plans to vote on a no-confidence resolution against the school's administrators, including Kotlikoff, later this month.
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it → say → Kotlikoff
But in his interview with the Times, Kotlikoff said: 'The fact that Jane Doe experienced what she experienced at Cornell is something that I am personally sorry for.
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I → say → that
And I think this entire campus is sorry that occurred.
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that → think → ?
'I've heard enough from the community that there is a loss of trust.
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I → hear → trust
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
