Cornell: Far Above Cayuga’s Waters

The Cornell Seven case is about more than sex, drugs, and accusations. It is about what happens when responsibility and due process disappear together  

Brian C. Joondeph | October 12, 2026

“Far above Cayuga’s waters, with its waves of blue…”

Every Cornellian knows the opening words to the alma mater.

During my Cornell days, we had a less reverent version:

“Far above Cayuga’s waters, there’s an awful smell.

Some say it’s Cayuga’s waters. Some say it’s Cornell.”

Nearly half a century later, there is again an awful smell coming from Ithaca

Image created by ChatGPT

It involves allegations of gang rape, ketamine and alcohol, a fraternity house, crude messages, questionable judgment, a disputed investigation, politicians, protests, social media, and seven young men whose names are now permanently linked on the Internet to “gang rape.”

I graduated from Cornell and was a fraternity member there. Fraternities were hardly monasteries then, and I doubt they are now. But this has become a national morality play about sexual assault, consent, intoxication, victimhood, responsibility, and due process.

The problem with morality plays is that the characters are assigned their roles long before all the evidence is heard and a verdict is rendered.

I have no idea whether the young woman known as Jane Doe was raped at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house on Oct. 19, 2024.

Neither does anyone reading this article.

That is what investigations and, if warranted, trials are for.

Rape is a monstrous crime. So is destroying someone’s life by falsely accusing them of rape. These propositions are not contradictory. They are the reason due process exists.

This is a rapidly evolving story. The facts and allegations discussed here reflect the public record as of the time of writing.

Jane Doe’s civil lawsuit alleges that after arriving intoxicated at Chi Phi, she was pressured to ingest ketamine and sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members. The men deny any criminal wrongdoing, and no criminal charges have been filed. New York Attorney General Letitia James is now conducting a renewed criminal investigation. 

Jane Doe told investigators that she arrived at the Chi Phi house alone at 11 p.m., after becoming intoxicated at her sorority house earlier in the evening, then visiting and drinking at two more bars before arriving at the fraternity house. 

Jane Doe says sexual activity began consensually with two men she knew but later became nonconsensual. Alcohol and ketamine were involved, and she says she eventually became incapacitated. In a later police interview, she was unequivocal: “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”

That statement deserves to be taken seriously.

So do her other contemporaneous statements.

Two days after the encounter, Jane Doe reportedly responded to an apologetic text from one of the men by stating that “none of the sexual stuff was illegal,” that she did not think anyone should feel ashamed about the “gangbang,” adding, “our body our choice.” 

She also said she had enjoyed being with the two men with whom the encounter began. Over the following days, however, she became increasingly distressed. Friends discussed with her whether what she described could constitute rape.

Then came Halloween, almost two weeks later.

Text messages indicate that Jane Doe wanted to return to Chi Phi for its Halloween........

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