New York Governor Kathy Hochul is calling for outside counsel to review Cornell University’s response to a 2024 alleged drugging and sexual assault case.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten reopened the case Monday, following a lawsuit filed earlier this month that detailed the alleged gang rape and drugging of a student by seven fraternity members.
Van Houten said the plaintiff’s original statement differed from the narrative outlined in the lawsuit. He said once his office has determined the appropriate charges, the case "will be prosecuted in the most objective and impartial means available - by testimony to the Tompkins County Grand Jury."
“I am calling for outside counsel to conduct a transparent, independent review of the university’s response to determine whether Cornell met every obligation to protect its students and pursue justice,” Hochul said in a statement on Tuesday.
Hochul described the allegations in the case as “nothing short of horrifying.”
She said she supports the district attorney’s decision to reopen the lawsuit and that “there are also serious questions about Cornell’s campus culture and its systems for prevention, reporting, and response.”
In a statement to WSKG Tuesday, a Cornell spokesperson said that the university “shares Governor Hochul’s commitment to addressing campus culture issues, which affect universities across the nation and New York.”
“We are committed to continuing to work with state officials to advance student safety and wellbeing.”
Cornell’s response to the incident has been criticized by other New York elected officials, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“I want to be clear that the culture of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States, and including Cornell University in this instance,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a town hall in Ithaca on Sunday.
Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo also criticized the university for not informing the city’s police department of the case in a statement on Monday.
“Despite the severity of these crimes, Cornell University administrators and police failed to contact or coordinate any response with the Ithaca Police Department.”
Cantelmo said he has declared a new policy directive and corresponding Ithaca Common Council resolution to place a moratorium on “all student event and special event permits.”
He said the moratorium would remain in place until the university reviews its protocols for preventing and prosecuting sexual violence and releases new standards and practices.
The Cornell University spokesperson said the university “shares the mayor’s interest in student well-being and safety. We will work with him to address his concerns.”