The Cornell 7 Case Demands More Than Outrage

By now, most of America has heard about the young woman who says she was gang raped by fraternity brothers while she was a student at Cornell University. The case has been dubbed the "Cornell 7" across mainstream and social media, after the seven Chi Phi members named in her recent lawsuit. The woman who filed the suit, referred to as Jane Doe, first reported her experience to Cornell campus police in November 2024. According to her lawyer, after Cornell's Title IX process, two of the seven were expelled, and the other five were suspended, sent to workshops, and assigned essays. Cornell says none of them got off with only an essay. At the time, the Tompkins County District Attorney declined to prosecute. After public outcry, the DA issued a statement explaining that Jane Doe’s original statement to police described the drug use and sex as "voluntary, conscious, and consensual.” “However, recognizing that the process of healing from trauma is personal and different for every human, my office has reopened this investigation," he wrote. Now, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed state Attorney ‌General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case. How did the case come to li...