Cornell bans frat parties, state police given role in sexual assault probe

Cornell University is suspending parties and other social events at fraternity houses for the rest of the academic year and will give the New York State Police a role in investigating sex crimes on campus, university officials announced Tuesday, amid mounting outrage over its handling of allegations that a female student was sexually assaulted at a fraternity house in 2024.

The measures announced by Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff include a suspension of all parties and social events at Interfraternity Council houses through the end of the 2026-27 academic year and a new “zero tolerance” policy for violations that would result in the immediate emergency suspension of a chapter.

“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.

He also committed to adding a case manager to the school’s Office of Civil Rights to help those who report sexual misconduct on the Cornell campus navigate the process, and to working with the New York State Police to allow their criminal investigators — who are independent of Cornell — to investigate allegations.

Crimes reported on Cornell’s campus are generally investigated by campus police, a department that has full law enforcement powers but is controlled by the university.

The campus police force operates independently from municipal police in Ithaca, New York, where the university is located. Its officers investigated the 2024 gang rape allegations and presented their initial findings to the Tompkins County district attorney, who declined to prosecute within weeks of the woman making her first report to police.

New York’s governor removed the district attorney from the case this month after a public outcry over the lack of charges.

The investigation is now being led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, while Cornell has hired former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates to conduct an independent review of the university’s response. New York State Police sometimes handle major crime investigations for small municipal police agencies, bringing in expertise that isn’t available locally.

The banning of frat parties comes days after swathes of students filled a campus plaza to protest the university’s response to the allegations of sexual assault.

At the demonstration, students, faculty members, and others wore purple ribbons and held signs with such messages as “support survivors, expel rapists” and “Justice 4 every Jane Doe” — the name by which the woman who reported the assault is known in court papers. Other people watched from pathways, windows and a nearby hill.

This is not the first time frat parties have been banned at the Ivy League school. In November 2022, it temporarily suspended frat parties after a student reported being sexually assaulted and four others were reportedly drugged at off-campus housing.

All of the incidents occurred at residences affiliated with registered fraternities.