ITHACA, N.Y. — New York’s governor appointed a special prosecutor Thursday to oversee an investigation into a woman’s allegations that she was gang raped at a Cornell University fraternity house, saying she had lost faith in the local district attorney’s ability to handle the case.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had signed an executive order appointing the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James as the special prosecutor.
“Newly released information continues to raise serious questions about the investigation conducted by the Cornell Police Department and the decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney not to prosecute an alleged sexual assault on Cornell University’s campus in October 2024,” Hochul said.
“This has, in turn, undercut my faith, and the public’s faith, in the District Attorney’s ability to effectively investigate and prosecute the case at this time.
Hochul said the attorney general would oversee the investigation and, if warranted, present evidence to a grand jury.
“The young woman at the center of this case deserves to know that every fact will be examined and justice pursued," Hochul said. "This action will ensure that the matter is fully and thoroughly investigated without conflict or bias, and handled independently with the rigor that this matter demands.”
A message left for Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten was not immediately returned late Thursday.
Students, community members demand accountability
Hochul's announcement came shortly after dozens of students and community members spent hours demanding transparency and accountability from university leaders at a forum sponsored by Cornell's student government.
New information about the alleged 2024 assault, the university's response and the lack of criminal charges at the time has been disclosed over the last week since a lawsuit was filed last month.
The case has roiled the Ivy League campus and raised questions about its response and the larger issue of how sexual assaults are handled on college campuses.
The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, reported the alleged assault to campus police, discussed it with the university’s internal investigators and is pursuing a lawsuit filed in September.
The lawsuit names seven fraternity brothers, the university, the Chi Phi fraternity and others, and alleges that one of the men sent a social media message to more than 50 other fraternity members alerting them to what was happening, and inviting people to take part.
Lawyers for two of the men she is suing have denied they participated in a sexual assault. One said his client hadn’t touched the woman. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the other men or their representatives have been unsuccessful.
Van Houten, the Tompkins County district attorney, had announced he'd reopen the investigation earlier this week after reviewing new information in the woman's civil lawsuit. He had issued a statement defending his initial decision not to issue charges and maintaining the woman’s first account to police didn’t include allegations that she was drugged against her will, incapacitated beyond the ability to consent, or forced into sex.
Under pressure from the public and politicians, including Hochul, the private university agreed Wednesday to bring in outside lawyers to independently investigate how it handled the woman's allegations.
Students, community call for change
Meanwhile, over more than 2 1/2 hours Thursday, students and other community members expressed anger, frustration and grief over Cornell’s handling of sexual assault allegations against fraternity members, with several speakers sharing their own personal experiences of sexual violence.
“I think what happened here is an American problem,” said Hayden Watkins, an undergraduate and executive vice president of the Student Assembly, which hosted the forum.
“People kind of put Cornell on this pedestal because we are an elite institution,” he added. “But if it’s happening at places like Cornell, it’s happening on college campuses all across the country.”
Many criticized Cornell President Michael I. Kotlikoff and its administration, calling for greater transparency and accountability in the handling of the case, stronger sexual assault prevention efforts and changes to Greek life, while others urged the campus community not to let the allegations define the school.
Sophomore Jane Wang spoke Thursday saying she was met with a slew of paperwork, little guidance and no follow-up when she reported being sexually assaulted on campus.
The details of Jane Doe’s case felt jarring, she said in an interview with the AP outside the forum. She added it seemed like “the exact same experience that I had gone through."
Wang said that her assault happened about a year ago. After an initial email chain about starting the investigation, she got few updates and had to prod for answers, she said. The process left her feeling an “overall sense of helplessness within a broader institution.”
“My main message for Cornell here is that we can’t be treating these cases only with care and attention after it catches national news,” Wang said, calling for the university to improve the “seriousness and timeliness” of its response to sexual assault allegations.
There was no immediate response to a message seeking comment about the forum and Wang's case sent to the university late Thursday.
Cornell has said it suspended the Chi Phi fraternity indefinitely and disciplined or expelled some students after Jane Doe reported her alleged assault, but the university has declined to provide specifics, citing student privacy rules.
The Student Assembly also passed several resolutions Thursday, seeking greater transparency around Cornell’s handling of sexual-assault cases, a review of consent and substance-use education during orientation, and free counseling for survivors.
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Associated Press reporter Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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