The allegations of a gang rape at a Cornell University frat house in 2024 that are dominating headlines have transported me right back to the preceding decade, where cases of regret too often turned into accusations of rape. 

These were the years of the Obama administration, during which colleges and universities were pushed to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct in ways that favored the accusers. The accused – almost always young men – were essentially stripped of their constitutional due process rights, and the accuser’s word was all that mattered. Many male students were kicked off campus, with their reputations in ruins while they often lost judicial protections.

This problematic and unfair framework was fixed during President Donald Trump’s first term, and as of Sept. 28, those guidelines have been officially reinstated.

There is a rush to judgment in the Cornell rape allegations

The heated reaction to the Cornell allegations and the rush to judge the young men involved before they’ve had their day in court makes me fear the country has learned nothing about the dangers of simply “believing women.” 

The woman at the center of this latest case, who conveniently gets to be “Jane Doe” while her alleged rapists are all named, caused an uproar when she filed a civil suit on Sept. 16 – nearly two years after the initial incident occurred. Her story has changed “dramatically” since she first told it in October 2024, according to Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who is reopening the case in light........

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