Cornell begins no confidence vote over handling of alleged gang rape

Faculty vote will continue until next Friday and could send message that school’s president has lost their confidence.

A person holds a sign as demonstrators gather for a "Stop Sexual Violence" protest as part of US rallies being held in the wake of the Cornell University rape allegations, in Seattle, Washington, US, on October 8, 2026 [David Ryder/Reuters]

Cornell University has begun a no-confidence vote for the school’s leadership after an alleged gang rape prompted public outcry over sexual assault on college campuses and scrutiny over the university’s handling of the case.

Faculty members started the no-confidence vote on Thursday that is expected to continue until November 6. The initiative is non-binding, but could send a message that president Michael Kotlikoff has lost the confidence of the school’s faculty.

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“Hundreds of students, staff, faculty and alumni approached the sponsors of this resolution to emphasize to us that the Jane Doe case is but a tip of the iceberg,” said Paul Ortiz, the lead faculty sponsor of the resolution.

A lawsuit filed last month alleges that a female student, identified as Jane Doe, was drugged and gang raped by seven male students at a fraternity house in 2024.

The case has raised questions about whether the university acted with sufficient urgency or downplayed the alleged abuse in order to protect its reputation. The university initially shut down the fraternity and suspended the male students, two of whom were later expelled.

Faculty considered on Wednesday whether to postpone a vote of no confidence, with some urging patience and others arguing that the vote was a necessary response to institutional reluctance to take the issue seriously.

The Associated Press news agency reported that the debate took place after a group of 20 female science and engineering faculty members called on Kotlikoff to resign in a letter to trustees.

“What our community needed was clear leadership; instead, it faced a leadership vacuum,” the letter stated.

Kotlikoff sought to address the fallout in a statement earlier this month in which he listed a number of preliminary responses.

“I am deeply sorry for the harm Jane Doe suffered in 2024, and appalled that this act of sexual violence occurred within our Cornell community,” he said.

Two of the men accused of taking part in the alleged rape of Jane Doe have asked for New York Attorney General Letitia James to be removed from her role overseeing the renewed criminal probe into the case over social media posts from the attorney general expressing support for the accuser prior to her appointment.

A judge on Thursday appeared sceptical of one of the challenges, which James’ office has said are “without merit”.

教职工投票将持续到下周五，投票结果可能表明学校校长已经失去了他们的信任。

2026年10月8日，在美国华盛顿州西雅图，一名示威者举着标语，参加“停止性暴力”抗议活动。这是美国在康奈尔大学强奸指控事件后举行的一系列集会的一部分。[David Ryder/路透社]

康奈尔大学在发生一起涉嫌轮奸案后，引发了公众对大学校园性侵犯问题的强烈抗议，并导致人们对该大学处理此案的方式进行了审查，随后该校领导层开始进行不信任投票。

教职工于周四启动了不信任投票，预计将持续到11月6日。这项行动不具约束力，但可能会发出一个信号，即校长迈克尔·科特利科夫已经失去了学校教职工的信任。

康奈尔大学校长就兄弟会强奸案引发的众怒誓言保持透明（共3条，此为第1条）

康奈尔轮奸案引发人们对兄弟会文化担忧的原因（共3条，此为第2条）

康奈尔大学任命萨莉·耶茨审查该校对强奸案的回应（共3项，此为第3项）

“数百名学生、教职工和校友联系了这项决议的发起人，向我们强调，简·多伊案只是冰山一角，”该决议的主要发起人保罗·奥尔蒂斯说。

上个月提起的一项诉讼称，一名化名为 Jane Doe 的女学生于 2024 年在兄弟会宿舍被七名男学生下药并轮奸。

此案引发了人们的质疑：校方是否采取了足够紧迫的行动，还是为了维护自身声誉而淡化了涉嫌的虐待事件。校方最初关闭了该兄弟会，并暂停了涉事男生的学籍，其中两人后来被开除。

周三，教职工们讨论了是否推迟不信任投票，一些人敦促保持耐心，而另一些人则认为，对学校不愿认真对待这个问题，投票是必要的回应。

美联社报道称，这场辩论的起因是 20 名女性科学与工程学院教职工联名致信校董会，呼吁科特利科夫辞职。

信中写道：“我们的社区需要的是明确的领导；然而，我们却面临着领导真空。”

科特利科夫在本月初发表声明，试图回应此事的影响，并在声明中列出了一些初步回应。

“我对简·多伊在2024年遭受的伤害深感抱歉，并对这种性暴力行为发生在我们康奈尔社区感到震惊，”他说。

两名被指控参与强奸简·多伊的男子要求撤换纽约州总检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯，因为她在被任命之前曾在社交媒体上发帖表示支持原告，从而导致纽约州总检察长重新开始对该案进行刑事调查。

周四，一名法官对其中一项挑战表示怀疑，詹姆斯的办公室称这些挑战“毫无根据”。