Mood at Cornell University darkens amid mounting pressure on investigators of alleged sex assault

At first glance, the town of Ithaca looks like a picture-perfect college brochure: the trees are starting to flash colorful fall foliage, a man in overalls is selling fresh flowers under the sun and students crowd around small tables outside a popular bagel shop just off Cornell University’s campus.

But deeper into the hills of the Ivy League institution, a homemade banner hanging from student co-op housing Saturday signals roiling turmoil. It reads: “Protect students, not rapists. Admin resign.”

The banner is a sign of the tension that has been growing since a former student identified as Jane Doe filed a bombshell lawsuit against the school and others last month alleging she was the victim of a gang rape in a fraternity house in October 2024.

Alexandra Pogyo Samaniego, a freshman, goes from a cheery smile to a stern look as soon as she’s asked how she’s doing. She wakes up every morning thinking of Doe’s case, she said.

Though it was her dream to attend Cornell, like her big sister, she feels “disillusioned” by the university just a few months into her time here. The “buzz” of excited energy when she first arrived has been replaced with a “quietness,” she said.

The lawsuit ignited a firestorm of criticism surrounding how the university and district attorney handled the case – which resulted in no criminal charges – when it was first reported and revived the national discussion around how schools, police and prosecutors respond to campus sexual assaults .

A message from the president: In his first public remarks since Doe filed her lawsuit, university president Michael Kotlikoff called her allegations “deeply disturbing,” saying, “This is a defining moment in Cornell’s history.” He acknowledged the university does not have all the answers and must “do better” to prevent future sexual violence in the community. Kotlikoff said he welcomes an independent review by an outside law firm into Cornell’s initial handling of the case, which he said would be announced next week.

Prosecutors refused additional evidence review : The Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office – which handled the 2024 criminal investigation – declined at the time to review any additional evidence, including more interviews gathered by the campus police department, beyond a six-page statement signed by Doe, records obtained by the New York Times show. Prosecutors did not express interest in the additional evidence because they had decided, based on Doe’s statement, “Criminal charges would not be pursued in this case,” a Cornell police investigator said in a note documenting the call, according to the Times.

State officials take over case : Vowing to unravel the investigation’s failures , New York Gov. Kathy Hochul turned the investigation over to Attorney General Letitia James, replacing Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who reopened the case after the lawsuit was filed. Van Houten, who has been DA since 2017 , said he supports James’ appointment.

Doe in 2024: “I was raped” : Doe’s attorney believes his client did not consent to any of the sexual encounters that are the focus of her allegations and was initially “in denial” about what transpired before starting to feel ashamed and finally realizing she had been raped, he told CNN. Doe told Cornell police in 2024 she was “pretty ok” with aspects of an initial encounter but did not consent to other sexual activities later that night, according to a statement CNN obtained. In a separate transcript of a November 2024 interview with police, she said, “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped,” according to CNN affiliate WCBS , which obtained the document. Prosecutors did not receive the transcript when Cornell police furnished Doe’s much briefer written statement, according to the local DA and New York’s governor.

Photo Illustration by Jason Lancaster/CNN/Getty Images

A timeline of the Cornell gang rape allegations

Pogyo Samaniego describes a range of emotions over the past weeks: anxiety that has made her miss classes, disbelief about the situation, and anger.

She also feels resentment toward the university for what she feels is a lack of transparency and student input, Pogyo Samaniego explained outside of Willard Straight hall, which she pointed out is known for a 1969 student occupation against racial injustice.

“It’s this really deep sorrow at the fact that this could have happened to Jane Doe, but also this could happen to anybody on campus. It could happen to your female friends, it could happen to your male friends, it also could very much be you,” Pogyo Samaniego said.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Outside of Collegetown Bagels, a popular restaurant where students usually meet to share a beer, Jonah Van der Linden said he broke down in tears earlier this week from a culmination of pent-up emotions.

Most conversations about homework or social plans now seem to morph into a discussion about the sexual assault allegations and the university, he said.

As Van der Linden shared intimate details about conversations his peers are having about sexual assault and feeling unsafe, several students passed without a second glance, as if such a conversation is nothing out of the ordinary.

Van der Linden has taken several steps to cope this week. He spent an hour with the president of a Cornell sorority, brainstorming ways to support her chapter’s uneasy sisters. He wrote an article for the student-run magazine Collegetown outlining ways the student body can start to heal. He has taken time to talk to the men in his life about consent.

“You need to talk to your friends and spend time with your friends and put effort into your friendships, especially people who are survivors, and especially women feeling unsafe,” Van der Linden said.

Both students also noted overwhelming online harassment against Cornell students, with Pogyo Samaniego saying people have told her to transfer to another university.

“More and more people are walking with their heads down, and I mean that literally,” Darius Pierce, a freshman, said.

Pierce told CNN that despite the mixed emotions and the online harassment he and some of his classmates have been facing from people outside of the Cornell community, there is an overwhelming amount of support for Jane Doe across campus.

Cornell alumna: ‘Nothing seems to have changed in the 36 years since I was a freshman’

Senior Ava Farkash said she hopes all the attention will bring about change.

“We all need something to come of this and something to be resolved because stuff like this happens all the time. And it’s just so frustrating when nothing ever changes,” Farkash said.

She can still remember the confusion of reading the initial email from Cornell about Doe’s case in 2024. She feels most of her peers are more angry this time around, with much of the frustration directed at the university administrators.

Farkash was already feeling the stress of her senior year and finding a job before her university was pushed into the spotlight. She wondered aloud if her association with Cornell could now hurt her job prospects.

“In a world where it’s already so incredibly difficult to get a job,” Farkash said, “I’m scared that it will be even harder now that I, by default, am associated with this reputation.”

Help is available : For help in the US, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or chat 24/7 on online.rainn.org .

CNN’s Isa Mudannayake, Rebekah Riess, Holly Yan, Gloria Pazmino, Jason Carroll, Alisha Ebrahimji, Nic Anderson and Hanna Park contributed to this report.

乍一看，伊萨卡小镇就像一幅完美的大学宣传册：树木开始展现出五彩缤纷的秋叶，一位穿着背带裤的男子在阳光下售卖鲜花，学生们聚集在康奈尔大学校园附近一家颇受欢迎的贝果店外的小桌子旁。

但在这所常春藤盟校的深处，周六悬挂在学生合作公寓楼上的一条自制横幅预示着一场动荡。横幅上写着：“保护学生，而不是强奸犯。校方辞职。”

这条横幅表明，自上个月一名化名为 Jane Doe 的前学生对学校和其他方面提起爆炸性诉讼以来，紧张局势一直在加剧。该诉讼声称，她在 2024 年 10 月在兄弟会宿舍遭到轮奸。

大一新生亚历山德拉·波吉奥·萨马涅戈（Alexandra Pogyo Samaniego）一被问及近况如何，脸上立刻从灿烂的笑容转为严肃的表情。她说，她每天早上醒来都会想起约翰·多伊（John Doe）的案子。

虽然像姐姐一样就读康奈尔大学是她的梦想，但入学仅仅几个月后，她就对这所大学感到“失望”。她说，刚来时那种兴奋的“活力”已被“寂静”所取代。

该诉讼引发了对大学和地区检察官处理此案方式的强烈批评——最终没有提出任何刑事指控——并重新引发了全国范围内关于学校、警察和检察官如何应对校园性侵犯的讨论。

来自校长的声明：在原告约翰·多伊提起诉讼后，康奈尔大学校长迈克尔·科特利科夫首次公开表态。他称多伊的指控“令人深感不安”，并表示“这是康奈尔大学历史上一个具有决定性意义的时刻”。他承认，学校并非无所不知，必须“做得更好”，以防止未来在校园内发生性暴力事件。科特利科夫表示，他欢迎由外部律师事务所对康奈尔大学最初处理此案的方式进行独立审查，并称将于下周宣布审查结果。

检察官拒绝审查更多证据：据《纽约时报》获得的记录显示，负责2024年刑事调查的汤普金斯县地方检察官办公室当时拒绝审查任何其他证据，包括校园警察局收集的更多访谈记录，除了Doe签署的一份六页声明之外。据《纽约时报》报道，康奈尔大学一名警官在一份记录通话内容的笔记中表示，检察官对这些额外证据不感兴趣，因为他们根据Doe的声明决定“不会对此案提起刑事诉讼”。

州政府官员接手此案：纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔誓言要查明调查中的失误，并将此案移交给州检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯，取代了汤普金斯县地方检察官马修·范·豪顿。范·豪顿在诉讼提起后重新启动了此案。自2017年起担任地方检察官的范·豪顿表示支持詹姆斯的任命。

2024年，Doe自述：“我被强奸了”：Doe的律师告诉CNN，他认为他的当事人并未同意任何性行为，这些性行为正是她指控的核心。律师最初否认发生的一切，之后才开始感到羞耻，最终意识到自己被强奸了。根据CNN获得的一份声明，Doe在2024年告诉康奈尔大学警方，她对最初几次性接触中的某些方面“感觉还不错”，但当晚晚些时候的其他性行为她并未同意。据CNN附属电视台WCBS报道，在2024年11月与警方的另一份笔录中，Doe表示：“我可以百分之百肯定地说，我被强奸了。”WCBS获得了这份笔录。当地检察官和纽约州州长表示，康奈尔大学警方向检察官提供的Doe的书面声明篇幅要短得多，但检察官并未收到这份笔录。

图片由 Jason Lancaster/CNN/Getty Images 提供

康奈尔轮奸案时间线

Pogyo Samaniego描述了过去几周她经历的各种情绪：焦虑让她缺课，对现状难以置信，以及愤怒。

波吉奥·萨马涅戈在威拉德·斯特雷特大厅外解释说，她也对大学感到不满，因为她认为大学缺乏透明度和学生的参与。她指出，威拉德·斯特雷特大厅因 1969 年学生占领该大厅反对种族不公正而闻名。

“真正令人深感悲痛的是，这种事可能发生在简·多伊身上，但也可能发生在校园里的任何人身上。它可能发生在你的女性朋友身上，也可能发生在你的男性朋友身上，甚至很可能就发生在你自己身上，”波吉奥·萨马涅戈说道。

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

在大学城贝果店（Collegetown Bagels）外，学生们经常聚在这里喝啤酒，乔纳·范德林登（Jonah Van der Linden）说，本周早些时候，他因积压已久的情绪爆发而崩溃大哭。

他说，现在大多数关于家庭作业或社交计划的谈话似乎都会演变成关于性侵指控和大学的讨论。

当范德林登分享他的同龄人谈论性侵犯和不安全感的私密细节时，一些学生甚至没有多看一眼就走了过去，仿佛这样的谈话没什么不寻常的。

本周，范德林登采取了多项措施来应对困境。他花了一个小时与康奈尔大学一个女生联谊会的会长交流，探讨如何支持该联谊会中那些感到不安的姐妹们。他还为学生自办杂志《大学城》（Collegetown）撰写了一篇文章，概述了学生群体可以开始疗愈伤痛的途径。此外，他还抽出时间与他生活中的男性朋友谈论了“同意”这个话题。

“你需要和朋友们谈谈，花时间陪伴他们，努力维系友谊，尤其是那些幸存者，特别是那些感到不安全的女性，”范德林登说。

两位学生还提到康奈尔大学的学生遭受了大量的网络骚扰，Pogyo Samaniego 表示有人让她转学到另一所大学。

“越来越多的人低着头走路，我是认真的，”大一新生达里厄斯·皮尔斯说道。

皮尔斯告诉 CNN，尽管他和一些同学心情复杂，并且遭到康奈尔大学以外的人的网络骚扰，但整个校园都对简·多伊表示了压倒性的支持。

康奈尔大学校友：“自从我大一入学以来，36年过去了，似乎一切都没有改变。”

高年级学生艾娃·法卡什表示，她希望所有这些关注能够带来改变。

“我们都希望这件事能有所进展，问题能得到解决，因为这类事情总是发生。而当一切都没有改变时，真的令人沮丧，”法卡什说道。

她仍然记得2024年读到康奈尔大学关于Doe案件的第一封邮件时的困惑。她觉得这一次她的大多数同学都更加愤怒，而且很多不满都指向了大学管理人员。

在康奈尔大学成为舆论焦点之前，法卡什就已经感受到了大学最后一年找工作的压力。她不禁自问，自己与康奈尔大学的联系会不会影响她的就业前景。

“在这个找工作已经异常艰难的世界里，”法卡什说，“我担心，现在我因为这种名声而与外界联系在一起，找工作会变得更加困难。”

可以获得帮助：在美国，如需帮助，请拨打全国性侵犯热线 1-800-656-4673 或访问 online.rainn.org 进行 24/7 全天候聊天。

CNN 的 Isa Mudannayake、Rebekah Riess、Holly Yan、Gloria Pazmino、Jason Carroll、Alisha Ebrahimji、Nic Anderson 和 Hanna Park 对本报道亦有贡献。