Ruta Tangiiau Mave. Photo: CI NEWS
Have you heard about the Cornell case, where a Jane Doe filed a claim she was gang-raped in 2024 by several men from the Chi Pi fraternity. Headlines call them the Cornell 7. Ruta Mave writes.
What we do not hear enough about is the Cornell 5. They are the student newspaper team who reported and continued to investigate the story for two years until the official suit was filed. Senior editor Cereese Qusba broke the story and editor-in-chief Sophia Dasser chose to publish the seven names on the front page of their newspaper. This is journalism.
A fraternity means a state of brotherhood, sharing a close bond or mutual friendship and support. A social organisation for male college students identified by Greek letters.
Students are recruited through a process called ‘rushing’ followed by ‘pledging’ and formal initiation. Fraternity chapters, face ongoing criticism and national debate over campus sexual assault statistics and misogynistic peer dynamics. Their exclusivity is historically and currently associated with elitism, high financial costs and social stratification.
Cornell University, founded in 1865 is a research-focused Ivy League school in New York state.
They are not alone; other universities have had similar reports of sexual assaults. The outrage has been in light of Cornell’s response. 2 of the 7 were expelled and 5 had to write essays and watch videos on consent but were allowed to remain on campus. When Jane Doe asked for her tuition back because she wanted to leave, Cornell refused and made her return. She later dropped out.
Cornell is not alone. Other universities' statistics of sexual assaults, with at worst expulsion are: Harvard (135 reported sexual assaults 10 suspensions); Berkeley (78, 3 expulsions); Dartmouth (155, 3 expulsions); Stanford (259, 1); North Carolina (136, 0); Virginia (205, 0, but they gave 183 expulsions for cheating and other honour board violations).
They say Cornell has a rape culture which may be true, but it makes it sound like rape is inevitable and rape should not be inevitable.
Several comment, ‘What did she expect was going to happen when she went to a fraternity?’ suggesting this is an accepted, common occurrence in American culture. This may have been in the past but it is 2026; why has it been addressed like corporal punishment in schools?
In the 1980s, it was not unheard of in many schools that if you ‘misbehaved,’ you would receive 6 lashes of the bamboo cane across your backside or the leather strap across the palm of your hand. I remember it, felt it, but imagine schools still doing that today.
Same time a common and expected occurrence were hits at home with a wooden spoon, hairbrush, belt or jandal. Now, new laws and the evolution of humanity mean ‘spanking children’ at home is no longer acceptable or legal.
The evolution of women’s place over time has gone from being a husband’s property to earning her own money and buying her own house without having a male sign it first. Women hold positions of power, wealth and leadership. How do fraternities remain in neanderthal times?
Australia’s education minister said, “Teaching boys to respect girls isn’t woke. Its common decency. Teaching boys about consent isn’t woke it is the law.”
There was a group chat with 57 other names that received a text inviting them to the violation of Jane Doe. One read the ‘shop is still open’ One reply said ‘I hope she is not a fatty – again’ Yes, think about it. It said ‘Again’
The disturbing reality is no one wrote ‘Stop’ or rang the police, or pulled that girl away from the pack. All of these males have mothers, maybe sisters, and not one showed respect and protection for the females around them.
These are the men of our future society, where they can and will hold positions of power, influence and trust. Some may even become Presidents of countries.
Not convicting a student to save his future, means letting rapists get away with behaviour they can and most often continue right into their old age.
Studies show males as a group have benefited the most from patriarchy. But those benefits come with a price. In return for all the goodies men receive, they are required to dominate exploit and oppress women. Using violence if they must, to keep the patriarchy intact. Rape of women stems from the power and privileges afforded to men who participate in patriarchy and the fear they’ll lose power and privileges, if they betray its codes.
Most men are disturbed by hatred and fear of women, and by male violence against women. But they fear letting go of their benefits more. They find it is easier to passively support male domination, even when they know in their minds and their hearts that it is wrong.”