First on CNN: Cornell faculty prepare no-confidence vote against administration over handling of sexual assault case

Members of the Cornell University Faculty Senate have introduced a resolution for a vote of no confidence against the university for its handling of the 2024 alleged gang rape on campus , as calls for reform and accountability reverberate with hundreds of protesters gathering on campus.

The resolution was submitted to the university faculty committee Monday evening, according to Paul Ortiz, a professor of labor history at Cornell who is also a member of the Faculty Senate. The group will review the resolution and it will be put on the full Faculty Senate agenda for when the Senate meets on October 14, Ortiz said.

A vote of no confidence, meant to convey a group has lost faith in a leader or administration, would be a sign of serious dissatisfaction and put pressure on university leadership to take action. “The faculty have been approached by hundreds of students, alumni, staff who are demanding that we do something,” Ortiz told CNN.

CNN has reached out to Cornell for comment.

Frustrations with the administration were made clear Monday night during a rally on campus as students and community members chanted “shame” and “resign,” expressing raw anger at the officials they believe failed the woman known as Jane Doe when she initially made a report to campus police in 2024.

Some groups are also planning to host a seven-hour sit-in on Wednesday “in solidarity with Jane Doe,” according to social media flyers for the event.

The lawsuit Doe filed last month against the university, the Chi Phi fraternity, seven fraternity members and others alleges the school failed to protect her and adequately punish the accused students. The ensuing fallout has raised questions about how the campus police investigation was handled, how the country district attorney made the decision not to file charges and whether the school’s internal investigation and ensuing actions went far enough.

Photo Illustration by Jason Lancaster/CNN/Getty Images

A timeline of the Cornell gang rape allegations

The move comes just days after Cornell’s president, Michael Kotlikoff, released a video statement promising further review and answers for the community, saying Doe’s alleged experiences raise “heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization, and aspects of party culture, alcohol, and drug use.”

Kotlikoff said he supports the governor’s decision to turn the criminal investigation over to the New York Attorney General and welcomes an independent review by an outside law firm into Cornell’s handling of the 2024 case.

Resolution presented to Faculty Senate: So far, approximately 40 senators have expressed support for the resolution to take a vote of no confidence against the university administration, Ortiz told CNN. The Senate functions as the primary legislative advisory and review body representing the university’s faculty and has over 75 voting members. Ortiz, who has been teaching at Cornell since the fall of 2024, said faculty members have been approached by students sharing their own experiences of sexual assault. “We’re tired of the sexual assaults that happened to our students. We’re tired of the administration’s inaction on this issue, and not only our current students, but past students, alumni who have actually given money to this university are fed up,” Ortiz said.

Demonstrations in support of Doe : During Monday’s demonstration on campus, students and others held signs reading “Justice for every Jane Doe”; “Cornell admin betrays survivors resign now”; and “This is feminine rage. Do you hear us yet?” Sabrina Karim, an associate professor in Cornell’s department of government and among the faculty who spoke at the rally, said trust has been broken. “We have to come together as a community nonviolently to demand change and to ensure that these basic principles are met,” she said. Another professor, Julia Chang, said: “They say Cornell has a rape culture, and I don’t disagree. But this statement can make rape sound inevitable. Rape should not be inevitable.” Earlier Monday, anonymous activists smashed a glass door and painted messages, including “smash the patriarchy,” on the walls of the administration building on campus, The Cornell Daily Sun reported. The vandalism is under investigation, the school said.

Cornell students react to university’s message on alleged 2024 rape

Letters to wireless carriers : Amid questions about what information university police shared with prosecutors before the local district attorney’s office declined to bring charges, new evidence shows Cornell police drafted letters to wireless carriers related to “investigating a sexual assault incident.” About a week after Doe first reported the alleged assault to university police investigators at the department drafted letters to Verizon and T-Mobile asking them to “preserve all available data,” including texts, calls, and picture and video messages associated with accounts that “may contain evidence pertinent to the ongoing investigation,” a signed warrant would follow within 30 days. It is not clear whether investigators ever sent the requests, followed up with subpoenas, or whether Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten was aware of them. Van Houten has said his office only received from police a six-page statement signed by Doe and Snapchat screenshots. CNN has asked the carriers whether they received the requests from Cornell and if they complied.

State officials take over the case: Vowing to unravel the investigation’s failures, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor after saying she “lost faith” in Van Houten’s ability to oversee the inquiry. James will have the power to investigate the incident and, if warranted, prosecute any offenses and present evidence to a grand jury. Van Houten, who has been DA since 2017 and reopened the case after the lawsuit was filed, said he supports James’ appointment.

Doe’s attorney expresses confidence in James: Thomas Giuffra told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday he had an initial call with James’ office last week and believes the investigation will be handled fairly, with a new set of eyes on evidence Doe’s team has collected – including recordings of calls between her and some of the accused, as well as emailed apologies. Giuffra said he believes other photos and videos related to the alleged assault existed but may have been destroyed. He added it is even possible more people were involved: “We will never know because of such an inadequate investigation that was done.”

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

Doe receiving threats: Doe is dealing with threats and attempts to reveal her identity, Giuffra told Tapper, adding that he himself received a threat Sunday morning.

CNN’s Taylor Galgano, Danya Gainor, Isa Mudannayake and Holly Yan contributed to this report.

康奈尔大学教务委员会成员提出了一项决议，要求对该大学处理 2024 年校园内涉嫌轮奸案的方式进行不信任投票。与此同时，数百名抗议者聚集在校园内，要求改革和问责的呼声日益高涨。

据康奈尔大学劳工史教授、同时也是教务委员会成员的保罗·奥尔蒂斯称，该决议已于周一晚间提交给大学教务委员会。奥尔蒂斯表示，该委员会将对决议进行审查，并将其列入10月14日教务委员会全体会议的议程。

不信任投票旨在表达某个群体对领导或管理层的不信任，这将是严重不满的标志，并会给大学领导层施加压力，迫使其采取行动。“数百名学生、校友和教职工都来找过我们，要求我们有所作为，”奥尔蒂斯告诉CNN。

CNN已联系康奈尔大学寻求置评。

周一晚上，在校园举行的一次集会上，学生和社区成员高喊“耻辱”和“辞职”，表达了他们对校方的不满，他们认为校方官员辜负了化名简·多伊的女子。2024年，简·多伊首次向校园警察报案时，校方官员未能履行职责。

根据社交媒体上的活动传单显示，一些团体还计划在周三举行七小时的静坐示威，“以声援简·多伊”。

上个月，原告约翰·多伊(John Doe)对大学、Chi Phi兄弟会、七名兄弟会成员及其他人员提起诉讼，指控学校未能保护她，也未能对涉案学生进行充分惩罚。此案引发的后续影响引发了人们对校警调查处理方式、地方检察官为何决定不提起诉讼以及学校内部调查和后续行动是否足够严密等问题的质疑。

图片由 Jason Lancaster/CNN/Getty Images 提供

康奈尔轮奸案时间线

就在康奈尔大学校长迈克尔·科特利科夫发布视频声明承诺对此事进行进一步调查并向社区作出解释几天后，康奈尔大学采取了这一行动。科特利科夫在声明中表示，多伊的遭遇引发了“令人心碎和不安的性侵犯、非人化以及派对文化、酒精和毒品使用等方面的问题”。

科特利科夫表示，他支持州长将刑事调查移交给纽约州总检察长的决定，并欢迎外部律师事务所对康奈尔大学处理 2024 年案件的方式进行独立审查。

提交给教务委员会的决议：奥尔蒂斯告诉CNN，目前已有约40名参议员表示支持这项对大学管理层发起不信任投票的决议。教务委员会是代表大学教职工的主要立法咨询和审查机构，拥有超过75名投票成员。奥尔蒂斯自2024年秋季起在康奈尔大学任教，他表示，一些学生曾向教职工讲述自己遭受性侵犯的经历。“我们受够了学生遭受性侵犯。我们受够了校方对此事的无所作为，不仅是现在的学生，还有曾经就读于此、为大学捐款的校友们，他们都感到忍无可忍了。”奥尔蒂斯说道。

声援简·多伊的示威活动：周一在校园举行的示威活动中，学生和其他人士举着标语，上面写着“为每一位简·多伊伸张正义”、“康奈尔校方背叛幸存者，立即辞职”以及“这是女性的愤怒。你们听到了吗？”康奈尔大学政府系副教授萨布丽娜·卡里姆（Sabrina Karim）是集会上发言的教职人员之一，她表示信任已被打破。“我们必须作为一个群体团结起来，以非暴力的方式要求变革，并确保这些基本原则得到落实，”她说。另一位教授朱莉娅·张（Julia Chang）说：“他们说康奈尔存在强奸文化，我并不否认。但这种说法会让强奸听起来像是不可避免的。强奸不应该是不可避免的。”据《康奈尔每日太阳报》报道，周一早些时候，一些匿名活动人士砸碎了校园行政大楼的一扇玻璃门，并在墙上喷涂了包括“粉碎父权制”在内的标语。校方表示，这起破坏事件正在调查中。

康奈尔大学学生对学校就2024年疑似强奸案发表的声明做出回应

致无线运营商的信函：在当地检察官办公室拒绝提起诉讼之前，康奈尔大学警方究竟向检察官提供了哪些信息引发了质疑。新证据显示，康奈尔大学警方曾就“调查一起性侵事件”起草信函给无线运营商。在原告约翰·多伊首次向大学警方报案称遭到性侵约一周后，警方调查人员起草了致Verizon和T-Mobile的信函，要求他们“保存所有可用数据”，包括与“可能包含与正在进行的调查相关的证据”的账户关联的短信、通话记录、图片和视频信息。警方承诺将在30天内发出正式的搜查令。目前尚不清楚调查人员是否发出过这些请求，是否跟进发出过传票，也不清楚汤普金斯县地方检察官马修·范·豪顿是否知晓此事。范·豪顿表示，他的办公室只收到警方提交的一份由多伊签署的六页声明和Snapchat截图。CNN已向这两家运营商询问是否收到康奈尔大学的请求以及是否予以配合。

州政府官员接手此案：纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔(Kathy Hochul)誓言要查明调查中的失误，并任命州检察长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯(Letitia James)为特别检察官。此前，她表示对范·豪顿(Van Houten)监督调查的能力“失去信心”。詹姆斯将有权调查此事件，并在必要时对任何违法行为提起诉讼，并将证据提交大陪审团。自2017年起担任地方检察官的范·豪顿在诉讼提起后重新启动了此案，他表示支持詹姆斯的任命。

简·多伊的律师托马斯·吉弗拉对詹姆斯充满信心：吉弗拉周日告诉CNN的杰克·塔珀，他上周与詹姆斯的办公室进行了初步通话，相信调查会得到公正处理，詹姆斯将以全新的视角审视简·多伊团队收​​集的证据，包括她与部分被告的通话录音以及道歉邮件。吉弗拉表示，他相信还有其他与这起涉嫌性侵事件相关的照片和视频存在，但可能已被销毁。他还补充说，甚至可能还有更多人涉案：“由于之前的调查如此不充分，我们永远无法得知真相。”

检方拒绝接受更多证据：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更多证据，包括校园警察局收集的更多访谈记录，而仅接受了Doe签署的一份六页声明。据《纽约时报》报道，康奈尔大学一名警官在记录通话内容的笔记中写道，检方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”。

吉弗拉告诉塔珀，多伊正面临威胁和身份泄露的企图，他还补充说，他本人在周日早上也收到了威胁。

CNN 的 Taylor Galgano、Danya Gainor、Isa Mudannayake 和 Holly Yan 对本报告做出了贡献。