Only two Cornell University students found responsible for sexual assaults on campus between mid-2020 and mid-2024 were expelled, while another was assigned a “reflection paper” as part of the punishment. The figures emerged before seven fraternity members were accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Chi Phi house.
According to CNN, Cornell reviewed 51 formal sexual assault complaints during that four-year period. Title IX proceedings determined that students were responsible in 16 of those cases.
Despite those findings, just two students were removed from the university. Six received reprimands, while seven others faced measures including written warnings, disciplinary probation, directed study and no-contact orders.
Cornell’s Office of Civil Rights describes directed study as an assignment requiring students to read or watch “relevant materials,” then discuss how those materials relate to their conduct and case.
The assigned material can include “an impact letter written by the complainant,” according to the office’s guidance.
In some cases where sexual assault complaints were withdrawn before a Title IX hearing, the accused students received alternative sanctions, including an “Accountability Reflection Paper” or an “Apology Letter.”
Cornell has not released sexual assault data for the academic year that began in fall 2024, when a woman known as Jane Doe alleged that seven students raped her at a Chi Phi fraternity house. Statistics for subsequent years have also not been made public.
It is likewise unknown how many of the complaints led to criminal investigations conducted alongside the university’s internal reviews.
A damning report found that only two students Cornell officials determined were responsible for sexual assault between mid-2020 and mid-2024 were expelled from the New York campus, pictured
Cornell’s approach to disciplining students found responsible for sexual misconduct has faced criticism from members of the local community for years.
Jennifer Brownell, executive director of the Advocacy Center of Tompkins County, a nonprofit organization that provides counseling to sexual violence survivors and is referred to by Cornell, described the penalties as “infuriating.”
“Should they be expelled? I don’t know. But should there be harsher punishments? Yes,” Brownell said.
Kacey Lee, a former Cornell student, told CNN she felt “betrayed” after the university found a student responsible for assaulting her but imposed disciplinary probation, a no-contact order and directed study—including a “reflection paper”—rather than expulsion in 2023.
The faculty and staff members on the Title IX panel concluded that the conduct had caused “significant harm” but was not motivated by malicious intent. The panel also determined that education about affirmative consent and related issues would probably prevent the student from repeating the behavior.
After reading the decision, Lee said the punishment felt as though her alleged assailant had simply been assigned extra homework.
“In a way, they were telling me it just wasn’t bad enough,” she said. “Why is my pain worth an essay.”
Lee said she now regrets reporting the incident to Cornell’s Title IX Office.
“To know that I went through it all for this illusion of accountability felt even worse,” she said.
Former Cornell student Kacey Lee told CNN she was disappointed after the student found responsible for assaulting her received a “reflection paper” and other sanctions in 2023
Community members have repeatedly criticized Cornell’s handling of sexual assault cases and the penalties imposed on students found responsible
Protesters attend a Tuesday rally supporting the former Cornell student known as Jane Doe
Other former students alleged that Cornell’s Title IX Office overlooked important evidence, allowing some accused students to avoid accountability and, in certain cases, allegedly offend again. One former student said a colleague assaulted her repeatedly, including an incident that caused her to bleed, before allegedly attacking her again a year later.
Jane Doe has alleged that she was pressured into taking drugs and sexually assaulted by seven Chi Phi fraternity members at an off-campus house on October 19, 2024.
However, records obtained by The New York Times show that a three-person disciplinary panel determined that not all seven men sexually assaulted Doe.
The panel found Matthew Ingalls, who invited Doe to the fraternity house, and Jonathan Newell, who took part in a threesome with Doe and Ingalls, responsible for sexual assault.
Both men were expelled from Cornell.
The five other men named in Doe’s civil lawsuit received less severe penalties. Winston Lee and Gillio Lopes were suspended and placed on disciplinary probation, while Diego Sarabia was barred from campus for three years. Sarabia had graduated by the time the sanctions were issued.
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Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar were ordered to avoid contacting Doe, complete study on sexual harassment, social media use and bystander intervention, and submit “reflection papers.”
They were not accused of participating in the alleged assault but were alleged to have entered the room after Newell reportedly posted in a fraternity Snapchat group that there was “free p***y” upstairs.
Chi Phi was subsequently shut down.
Umar Matthew Ingalls and Jonathan Newell were expelled after Jane Doe accused seven fraternity members of gang-raping her in October 2024
According to the filing, one man allegedly posted in the fraternity’s active-members Snapchat group that there was “free p***y” upstairs, referring to Doe; the filing included an image of the purported exchange
All of the accused men have denied wrongdoing. None was criminally charged after prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
The Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office has since reopened the investigation. Cornell officials have also hired Sally Yates, a former Obama-appointed Justice Department official who was dismissed by President Donald Trump, to examine the university’s response to the gang rape allegations.
A Cornell spokesperson told CNN that the university treats sexual misconduct allegations “extremely seriously.”
The spokesperson said Cornell investigates complaints through established procedures while offering support and resources to people who report sexual violence.
The university also said it expanded in-person sexual violence prevention training this year to include all first-year students. In a separate interview with The New York Times, President Michael Kotlikoff pointed to the presidential task force he created in February 2025 as evidence that his administration was addressing sexual assault on campus.
“We don’t set up a presidential task force for minor issues,” Kotlikoff said, explaining that the university’s actions were intended in part to reassure concerned parents.
“I’ve had a number of conversations with 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,” he said.
“We take the issue seriously, that we respond, that we heard the concerns, and we’re responding in specific ways that address those concerns.”
Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff said the presidential task force he created in February 2025 demonstrated that his administration was taking campus sexual assault seriously
Kotlikoff also told the Times that the levels of ketamine and alcohol identified during the Title IX investigation were not problems unique to 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.
Cornell later prohibited fraternity parties for the remainder of the year.
Meanwhile, the Cornell faculty senate has said it intends to vote later this month on a no-confidence resolution targeting university administrators, including Kotlikoff.
In his interview with the Times, Kotlikoff said he was personally sorry for what Jane Doe said she experienced at Cornell and acknowledged that the broader campus community shared that regret.
“I’ve heard enough from the community that there is a loss of trust. People are angry. I understand that anger,” he said.
On Tuesday, Kotlikoff announced that all parties and social events at Interfraternity Council houses would be suspended through the end of the 2026-27 academic year. He also introduced a “zero tolerance” policy under which chapters could be suspended immediately for violations.
“These measures will provide time for a thorough review of fraternity life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue,” Kotlikoff wrote in a letter to the campus community.
Cornell administrators also said the university police force would add investigators with specialized experience handling sexual assault cases.
In a statement to Our News Outlet: “Cornell takes allegations of sexual misconduct extremely seriously and investigates reports through its established processes, providing support and resources to those who come forward.
“All evidence maintained and decisions made through the Title IX process are considered educational records and are therefore protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal privacy law that governs educational institutions.
“Cornell therefore cannot publicly provide any comment on disciplinary actions.”
