JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
A prosecutor in New York has reopened a probe into the alleged drugging and gang rape of a female student at Cornell University in 2024. This comes after the woman recently filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell and against seven male students she says assaulted her. I want to let listeners know we will be discussing details of that alleged assault. NPR's Brian Mann is following this and is with us now. Hey.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: Brian, if this allegedly happened back in 2024, why is it only being investigated now?
MANN: Yeah. Matthew Van Houten is the prosecutor in Tompkins County in upstate New York where Cornell is located, and he put out a statement this morning saying his office has faced a wave of outrage for not pursuing criminal charges sooner. Van Houten says he did review the incident when it first roiled Cornell's campus community two years ago. He says, at the time, the woman gave a detailed statement to Cornell campus police where she described much of the incident, and I'm going to quote here, as, "voluntary, conscious and consensual." Van Houten says, based on that information, he decided not to pursue the case. But now he's reviewing criminal charges that he says will be presented to a grand jury.
SUMMERS: I was just taking a look at this lawsuit, and it includes some really harrowing new information. What have we learned?
MANN: Yeah, in her civil lawsuit filed this month, the woman identified as Jane Doe describes a brutal assault. She wasn't old enough to drink legally but says she was pressured at a Chi Phi fraternity party to use alcohol and drugs. She describes then being gang-raped, often while she was incapacitated, over a period of hours. The lawsuit filing includes a screen capture of Snapchat messages between some of the men where they appear to joke and invite others to take part.
This lawsuit also accuses Cornell University, Juana, of failing to properly respond to the alleged violence. I should say we don't know exactly what actions Cornell took against these individuals. The university said some were suspended or expelled, but campus officials have declined to say what happened after that. In a statement today, Cornell University spokesperson Kyle Kimball said, and again, I'm quoting here, "any suggestion that the university did not impose consequential punishments for those involved is false."
SUMMERS: I mean, that hasn't seemed to satisfy critics. I know this weekend I kept seeing this story over and over again on social media. What stands out to you?
MANN: It's really gone viral. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who describes herself as a survival (ph) of sexual violence, was actually in Ithaca last night. Again, that's where Cornell is located. She was speaking to students. Here's what she said.
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ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: The culture of rape, sexual assault and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States, and including Cornell University in this instance. It has got to stop.
MANN: The actor Florence Pugh also talked about this case in an Instagram post to her roughly 11 million followers, calling the alleged violence against the student a horrific act. She called for action to reduce sexual violence. I will say, Juana, NPR has tried through the day to reach out to these men named in the lawsuit, and our emails and phone calls have not been returned.
SUMMERS: Before you go, I just want to talk big picture here for a second. How common is campus sexual violence?
MANN: Yeah, a widely respected study released in 2020 found about 1 in 4 college women face some kind of sexual misconduct or coercion. I spoke with experts today who say they think the data suggests rates of sexual violence on many campuses is actually rising.
SUMMERS: That is NPR's Brian Mann reporting in upstate New York. Thank you.
MANN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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