Ithaca city council calls on Cornell to report sexual assault investigations to local police

The city of Ithaca called on the Cornell University Police Department to turn over sex and violent crime investigations to the Ithaca Police Department, after the city council voted nearly unanimously in favor of the measure. The decision late Wednesday came as a gang-rape allegation by a former Cornell student took the campus and nation by storm last month. The Cornell University Police Department has said it did not refer its investigation of the 2024 allegation to the Ithaca Police Department. The former student, known as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit last month detailing the allegations and what she said was a lack of appropriate response by the university and its police department. The city council also voted on Wednesday to temporarily suspend affiliated student organizations at the university, such as fraternities, from new assemblies, parades and special events “due to public safety concerns.” The moratorium on events would expire on Nov. 5, unless the council were to take further action, according to a meeting agenda. The resolution passed by a vote of 9-1. The council did not say how the measure would be enforced or what would happen if the university did not comply. Cornell declined to comment, citing pending litigation. More than 35% of female undergraduates surveyed at Cornell University reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving physical force, threats of force or incapacitation, according to a poll conducted last year. That figure was up from 23% in 2023, according to the university. The university police department and the local district attorney are under intense scrutiny over how the investigation into Doe’s allegations was handled. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten previously said he based his decision not to bring charges based on a six-page summary made by Cornell police of Jane Doe’s initial interview with police. But, according to reports, that summary was missing some of Jane Doe’s strongest remarks to police. CBS News New York, citing a transcript of a conversation between Jane Doe and investigators, reported that she told campus police three weeks after the fraternity incident that she had been raped. “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped,” Jane Doe is quoted as saying. Van Houten said he was unaware that Jane Doe allegedly made that remark to campus police, adding that the allegation was not included in the written statement that Cornell police provided to his office in November 2024. In light of the revelations, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said, “In what world would the police learn from a victim that she’d been literally gang-raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house, and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney?” “She spoke to the police. She sat for hours and told them exactly what happened to her and according to new reports, she could not have been clearer that she was 100% confident that she had been raped,” she said. “Yet, shockingly, those words never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors. The attorney general then declined to pursue charges after reviewing that incomplete account and never interviewing her.” Hochul has appointed Attorney General Letitia James to take over the investigation. As governor of New York, Hochul is by default a member of the board of trustees at Cornell. Jane Doe’s attorney has argued that she was failed by authorities who did not conduct a thorough investigation. Sally Yates, the former deputy U.S. attorney general and acting U.S. attorney general, is leading an independent review of how the university responded to the allegations and, more broadly, how it responds to sexual harassment, assault and misconduct on campus. That probe will include looking into the role and response of campus police and its coordination with other law enforcement agencies and prosecutors. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at rainn.org/get-help.