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Cornell students voice frustration at public hearing over rape case
Under normal circumstances, Cornell University is a beautiful place to study at this time of year. Autumn leaves bring pops of colour to its stately buildings, which are set against the backdrop of the rolling hills of upstate New York.
But students and faculty members say the investigation into an alleged gang rape that took place on these grounds two years ago has cast a "dark cloud" over the campus - stirring anger, concern over fraternity culture, and a backlash against the university's handling of the situation.
Students and staff at the Ivy League university spoke to the BBC, some on condition of anonymity, saying the tension on campus had become palpable since the 2024 case resurfaced in recent weeks.
At a student assembly on Thursday, which was organised to allow students to voice their concerns, many called for drastic change at the university.
Others labelled the perceived lack of justice a "disgrace" and said they felt ashamed of the prestigious university, which has defended its handling of the case.
"We deserve to know that our institution values our safety more than its reputation," undergraduate Sophia Riley Sim told those at the gathering.
Sim said she had been too upset by the case to attend classes for the past week.
The accuser at the centre of the alleged gang rape, known anonymously as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit against Cornell on 16 September, saying she was drugged and raped at a fraternity house in 2024.
She claimed that Cornell had failed to protect her or adequately punish the men involved in the incident. The men have been dubbed the Cornell Seven.
Cornell has already agreed to an independent investigation into the rape allegation.
The university has also defended its handling of the issue to date, external, saying it conducted an "extensive investigation" that lasted several months following the report of the incident, and that it followed applicable federal civil rights law.
Shortly after Thursday's student assembly at Cornell, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she had appointed the state attorney general, Letitia James, as special prosecutor in the case.
She said she had "lost faith" in the Tompkins County district attorney, who was previously leading the investigation. James therefore takes over the case from Matthew Van Houten.
Van Houten's office initially concluded that the evidence did not meet the legal threshold to bring charges - before reopening a criminal investigation last week in light of the new civil complaint, a move that Cornell supported.
Cornell accuser was 'failed' by university health care system, lawyer says
Student organisers are calling for Cornell to expel and revoke the degrees of the alleged perpetrators of the rape, rewrite policies around sexual assault punishments, initiate an external investigation of the university and mandate prevention training for campus police.
As part of its account of its prior investigation of the case, Cornell says: "At its conclusion, the hearing panel issued a range of sanctions, which included expulsions and suspensions from Cornell."
Cornell says it is legally prevented from publicly disclosing specific disciplinary outcomes about disciplinary students, adding that "we recognise that this legal limitation can be frustrating".
One fourth-year student recalled that it had been hard to live there in 2024, in the aftermath of the incident, as rumours began spreading about Jane Doe.
Now, two years on, she told the BBC how she and her friends felt "overwhelmed" and "disappointed", comparing the atmosphere on campus to a "dark cloud". Cornell, she believes, mishandled things.
She wants the administration to admit what she sees as its mistakes, calling the lack of transparency disheartening.
She also asked why multiple men in a group chat for members of Chi Phi - the fraternity group at the centre of the allegations - did not speak up. A chapter of the fraternity was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.
Image caption, Students and staff have spoken of a "dark cloud" over the campus
Students and community members also used Thursday's student assembly meeting to vent their frustrations and disappointment.
"I am very disgusted to be here, to be paying this institution to be here," freshman Eliana Dolven-Miller said. "There was a lot of anger in that room, I was very angry."
Eeshaan Chaudhuri, the student assembly chair, opened the meeting by saying that the campus stood "with victims of sexual violence".
"We don't tolerate it here on campus, and I think I can speak for every single one of us, and I can say we're absolutely ashamed of the events that happened on our campus," Chaudhuri said.
The student group has also raised a resolution calling on the university to release a written account of how it handled the alleged sexual assault, including what evidence was gathered and whether and when the university referred the matter to campus police.
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"I'm very shocked" - College students react to Cornell University rape investigation
A faculty member said the mood on campus was "dismal". Staff were not trained therapists, she said, so it was hard to know how to navigate these discussions with students.
It was an "incredible situation that was so… I just don't understand," she said, adding that she was unsure if the university should have gone further, and adding that this was not the first time a fraternity group had had problems on campus.
Some of the freshmen, or first-year students, who spoke to the BBC had only arrived at Cornell last month.
A young woman said she and her friends had been discussing the allegations again that morning. Her friend said it had been difficult for him to come to an Ivy League university feeling excited about the future, only to see this story dominate the news.
Students were not OK about what happened to Jane Doe, he said.
More than 1,300 graduates have signed a letter calling on the university to take "swift and expansive" action after the allegations came back to light.
"Will Cornell take this as an opportunity to ask difficult questions about the proliferation of sexual violence on its own campus?" asks the letter, which was published in the university's student newspaper.
"Or will it shy away from reform to protect its image? This is not an isolated incident."
