The case of the Cornell 7 fraternity members who allegedly gang-raped a female sophomore two years ago shows that colleges have no business investigating sex crimes. Cornell failed the young woman known as Jane Doe.
Cornell investigated the allegations of what happened on the night of Oct. 19, 2024 that went into the next morning at the Chi Phi frat house. While that probe is being reexamined under pressure by Gov. Hochul, Cornell was the wrong entity to do the investigation. So incompetent were campus security officers, that even though Jane Doe told them she was raped, in a six-page summary sent to the local district attorney the rape was not even mentioned.
And beyond Cornell’s specific bungling, in fact all colleges are the wrong entities to review charges of sexual assault. This is a potential felony and it must be handled by the police and prosecutors. Let the people who are experts investigate.
College administrators have too much vested interest in protecting the image of the institution. Plus they don’t know how to do it. Cops do. And another problem is that under the federal Title IX rules, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in institutions of higher learning, colleges must keep the information confidential.
To get avoid this, victims of rape and sexual assault must report incidents to the real police. Call 911, not a roommate, not an RA, not a dean, not campus security. Because once the school gets involved, they are bound by the privacy provisions of federal law.
This is what we wrote 11 years ago, following a botched investigation of rape allegations at Columbia:
“Title IX forces schools to investigate campus sexual assault allegations and then to serve as judge and jury in secret proceedings to determine guilt or innocence. What has happened at Columbia demonstrates how ill-equipped colleges and universities are to handle matters that belong strictly to law enforcement.”
Jane Doe was also failed by Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten and state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
Van Houten has jurisdiction in Ithaca but his office never actually investigated Jane Doe’s case, only relying on the incomplete six-page summary of the matter provided by campus security. The DA’s office never talked to the victim. If Van Houten doesn’t have the resources or expertise like big DA offices’ with specialized units to properly examine allegations of sexual assault or rape, he should get assistance from the Ithaca cops or from the State Police or the state attorney general.
And it is Heastie, who for years has blocked a vote on a reform to the state Penal Law to close the “voluntary intoxication” loophole. Current law says that if an accuser knowingly and willingly drinks too much, there is no crime for someone else to take advantage of the accuser’s incapacitation. Van Houten has pointed to this in trying to explain why he brought no charges.
A bill to forbid the use of intoxication of the victim as a defense in sex crimes passed the state Senate unanimously on May 14, 2024, well before the October debauchery at the frat house. But Heastie forbade an Assembly vote that spring and has blocked it since. The bill again passed the Senate unanimously this spring. The Assembly bill has 96 sponsors, in a chamber where 76 is an absolute majority. It will pass if Heastie allows a vote.
Now, after the Cornell uproar, Heastie says he wants a task force. There is no need for a task force. There is a need for a floor vote and the bill to be signed into law by Hochul.
Hochul should join the heat on Heastie. A new law won’t help Cornell’s Jane Doe, but it will help future victims of sexual assault and rape.