Cornell building is sprayed with graffiti blasting school’s response to gang rape complaint

ITHACA, New York (AP) — Cornell’s main administration building was splashed with graffiti and a glass door was broken overnight as student groups planned a protest Monday over the university’s handling of the alleged 2024 fraternity-house gang rape that has ignited a firestorm of anger on campus and beyond.

Holes were knocked into one of the administration hall’s glass doors, and the walls beside them were marked with red-painted messages condemning patriarchy and the Ivy League school’s handling of sexual assaults, news media photos showed.

Cornell spokesperson Kyle Kimball said in a statement that the university was investigating and that “damaging property is not the answer” to Cornellians’ “frustration and strong emotions.” A message seeking further details on the incident was sent to Kimball; campus police referred questions to his office.

Meanwhile, a roster of student organizations planned a late-afternoon “Justice for Survivors” demonstration to push for changes in the university’s process for handling sexual assault complaints and for more punishments connected to the one that followed a party at the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024.

A then-sophomore alleges that she was sexually assaulted there by multiple men after being pressured into drinking and taking drugs.

The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, recently sued the university, seven former students, the fraternity and others. Her lawsuit said that she became fully incapacitated as fraternity members assaulted her, and that one man sent others a message inviting them to participate.

Lawyers for two of the former students denied they participated in a sexual assault. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the other men or their representatives have been unsuccessful. Court records show that some of the accused students, when interviewed by Cornell investigators, described the sexual activity as consensual.

The suit has drawn national attention to what Cornell, its police force and the local district attorney did after she told the campus police in November 2024 she “can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”

No criminal charges have been filed. The Chi Phi chapter at Cornell was shut down, and the Ivy League university has said it expelled some students and suspended others. In a statement last week, the administration bristled about the “false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case.”

Students, however, have demanded more accountability and transparency, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said Jane Doe was “failed by people and institutions” including the Cornell police and local District Attorney Matthew Van Houten.

Hochul appointed the state attorney general last week to take over a criminal investigation that Van Houten had reopened days earlier, and the governor called for an independent review of Cornell’s handling of the matter.

After the week’s developments, Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff released an apologetic video Saturday, saying that Jane Doe’s account “raises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.”

Kotlikoff reaffirmed his support for an independent review of the university’s actions and vowed more transparency and a commitment to “finding the answers our community deserves.”