Rape

Beware the Rush to Judgment in the Cornell Rape Case

As with similar cases at UVA and Duke Lacrosse, it's important to get the facts first.

Robby Soave | 9.29.2026 4:50 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google

Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Cornell University (Kenneth C. Zirkel)

One might have hoped that the media—and the broader public too—would have learned the lesson that it's unwise to prejudge a sexual assault dispute, automatically take the side of the victim, and demand the heads of the alleged perpetrators. By now, we possess numerous examples of initial impressions being wildly wrong, including high-profile cases such as Rolling Stone's retracted 2014 University of Virginia story and accusations against members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team in 2006.

Cornell University may present another such case.

A seemingly quite disturbing allegation of sexual assault at Cornell has now captured the media's attention. The details are lurid: A female former student, known as Jane Doe, contends that seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity pressured her to take drugs and alcohol and then gang raped her for hours. She has filed suit against the fraternity brothers, as well as Cornell itself, which she says failed to protect her from being "sexually assaulted and raped by multiple members of the Xi Chapter of the Chi Fraternity." She is kept anonymous in her lawsuit: The alleged perpetrators, on the other hand, are named.

The accusation has brought the fraternity brothers significant opprobrium, their names and faces appearing everywhere in media. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) denounced them and Cornell, declaring:........

© Reason.com