Prosecutors to Present Cornell Case to Grand Jury

New York’s Tompkins County district attorney has reopened an investigation into a former Cornell student, identified in a civil lawsuit as Jane Doe, who alleges seven Chi Phi fraternity members drugged and sexually assaulted her at the fraternity’s Ithaca house in October 2024 and pressured her to take ketamine. The district attorney said her sworn account to police in 2024 described the drug use and sexual activity as voluntary and did not allege she had been drugged or assaulted; her attorney disputes the prosecutor’s account and has criticized the original investigation, including its failure to follow up on Snapchat messages. Prosecutors are considering charges and plan to present evidence to a grand jury, but none of the seven men has been criminally charged and the allegations remain unproven. The woman’s civil lawsuit also accuses Cornell and other entities of failing to protect her. Cornell supports reopening the case and says its separate Title IX process imposed temporary suspensions and other restrictions; the university says the Chi Phi chapter remains barred from campus.