• A former student alleges she was drugged and raped by multiple men at Cornell University in 2024.
• The Tompkins County District Attorney's Office is reopening the investigation after a civil lawsuit was filed.
• The lawsuit alleges negligence from Cornell University and the fraternity members involved.
• There has been public outrage and calls for accountability following the civil suit.
• Cornell maintains it conducted investigations and imposed sanctions against some involved students.

A former student of Cornell University, identified as Jane Doe, has filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024. The lawsuit claims that fraternity members pressured her into consuming ketamine and alcohol, rendering her incapable of consent, before they assaulted her over the course of several hours at their fraternity house in Ithaca, New York. Reports indicate that the woman also stated that fraternity members used a Snapchat group chat to invite others to the scene to participate in the assault, according to India Times, Reuters, and CBS News.

Following the lawsuit filed on September 16, 2026, New York prosecutors, led by Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, announced the reopening of the investigation into the allegations. The Department indicates it would present the case to a grand jury after community pressure and public outrage regarding the handling of the case in 2024, during which no criminal charges were filed. Van Houten clarified that the initial decision not to prosecute stemmed from discrepancies between the woman’s original sworn statement to authorities and the claims made in the civil suit, according to Reuters and NPR.

The lawsuit alleges that the woman's initial report did not include claims of being gang-raped or drugged against her will, as her attorney insists that Jane Doe was under significant emotional distress following the incident and did not fully process the events when speaking with investigators. Moreover, the attorney claims that no thorough investigations were conducted by law enforcement following her initial report. The new legal proceedings will now consider her testimony along with any new evidence presented, as previously noted in statements from DA Van Houten, according to BBC and Los Angeles Times.

Cornell University has stated that its internal investigation into the matter resulted in disciplinary action against some students, including expulsions and suspensions, though the details of these sanctions remain unclear. University officials have emphasized that any claims of inadequate punishment are false, highlighting the gravity and thoroughness of their Title IX investigation initiated in response to the allegations. The Chi Phi fraternity chapter involved has been barred from campus since 2024, as reported by CBS News and CBS News.

As the reopening of the case unfolds, public demands for justice and accountability continue to mount, underlining the societal need for clear responses to allegations of sexual assault within university environments. The Tompkins County DA's office is now engaged in gathering further testimony and exploring new avenues for pursuit of charges, in light of the assertions made in the civil lawsuit, according to CBS News, Los Angeles Times, and NPR.