CORNELL WON’T RELEASE REPORT ON ALLEGED GANG RAPE AS CASE FACES NEW SCRUTINY

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Cornell University is facing mounting questions over its handling of allegations that a former student was sexually assaulted by seven men at a fraternity house in 2024, and now one question is getting louder: What exactly did the university’s investigation find?

Cornell says it conducted a months-long Title IX investigation, held a hearing and imposed serious disciplinary sanctions, including expulsions and suspensions. But the university says it will not publicly release specific information about individual students or the disciplinary findings, citing federal student-privacy law. The Cornell Daily Sun

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in a civil lawsuit, alleges she was sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house after being pressured into consuming ketamine, marijuana and alcohol. The allegations have not been proven in court, and the men accused in the lawsuit are entitled to contest the claims. Los Angeles Times

BUT NOW THERE’S ANOTHER PROBLEM 👀

A newly reported transcript of Jane Doe’s 2024 interview with Cornell University Police is raising questions about what information prosecutors originally received.

According to reporting by CBS News and the Associated Press, the woman told campus police during that interview that she could say with “100% confidence” that she had been raped. The Tompkins County district attorney had previously said the information his office received did not describe her as having been incapacitated or coerced in the way later alleged in the lawsuit. AP News

That discrepancy matters.

The district attorney has now reopened the criminal investigation and said evidence may be presented to a grand jury. Los Angeles Times

Cornell, meanwhile, says it provided the district attorney’s office with “all investigatory information” it had in 2024, creating a public disagreement over exactly what information was available to prosecutors and when. The Cornell Daily Sun

AND NEW YORK’S GOVERNOR JUST STEPPED IN

Gov. Kathy Hochul has called for a transparent, independent review of Cornell’s response to the allegations, saying outside counsel should examine whether the university met its obligations to protect students and properly respond to the case. The Cornell Daily Sun

Now Lady Red has a question.

If everybody says they did what they were supposed to do, why are we still trying to figure out who knew WHAT, who received WHAT and WHEN they received it?

Because somewhere between the university investigation, campus police and the prosecutor’s office, there are now very different descriptions of what happened with critical information.

And when the allegation is this serious, “trust us” cannot be the end of the conversation.

There is another side that matters too: student disciplinary records have legal privacy protections, and Cornell says those protections prevent it from simply releasing details about individual students. That does not automatically mean the university is hiding wrongdoing. It does mean the independent review and reopened criminal investigation could become especially important in determining what actually happened.

Meanwhile, at the center of all this is a woman who says something horrific happened to her.

This is not internet entertainment. It is not a hashtag battle. And allegations are not convictions.

But allegations this serious deserve a thorough investigation, the accused deserve due process, and the public deserves accurate answers about how the institutions responsible for handling the case actually handled it.

Because seven accused men, a university investigation, expulsions and suspensions, a reopened criminal investigation AND an independent review from the governor?

Baby, there are still some pages missing from this story.

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IT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM! 💥