A ‘dark cloud’ and ‘dismal’ mood: What it’s like at Cornell amid frat rape allegation

The upcoming “Justice for Survivors” protest, planned at the university for 5 October, is being advertised in flyers all over campus. It calls on Cornell to take action against alleged rape culture.

Student organisers are calling for Cornell to expel and revoke the degrees of the alleged perpetrators of the rape, rewrite policies around sexual assault punishments, initiate an external investigation of the university and mandate prevention training for campus police.

As part of its account of its prior investigation of the case, Cornell says: “At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell.”

Cornell says it is legally prevented from publicly disclosing specific disciplinary outcomes about disciplinary students, adding that “we recognise that this legal limitation can be frustrating”.

Across campus, the case has stirred anger.

One fourth-year student recalled that it had been hard to live there in 2024, in the aftermath of the incident, as rumours began spreading about Jane Doe.

Now, two years on, she told the BBC how she and her friends felt “overwhelmed” and “disappointed”, comparing the atmosphere on campus to a “dark cloud”. Cornell, she believes, mishandled things.

She wants the administration to admit what she sees as its mistakes, calling the lack of transparency disheartening.

She also asked why multiple men in a group chat for members of Chi Phi – the fraternity group at the centre of the allegations – did not speak up. A chapter of the fraternity was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.