Mass protests erupted at Cornell University on Monday, with students criticizing officials’ handling of gang-rape allegations, demanding the president’s resignation and painting “SMASH THE PATRIARCHY” on an administration building.
Thousands of students and faculty gathered for a demonstration, sparked by the high-profile case of a former student known as Jane Doe, who said in a recent lawsuit that she was plied with drugs and raped at a fraternity house in 2024. The case has prompted international outrage and intense scrutiny of college fraternities and sexual violence on US campuses.
Protesters shouted, “Ban the frats” and held signs saying, “At Cornell, rapists are safer than women” and “Stop rape culture.” Some demonstrators directed their anger at Michael Kotlikoff, Cornell’s president, arguing he had failed to keep students safe and chanting, “Kotlikoff, resign!”
The demonstration took place after some students had smashed a glass door at the entrance of Day Hall, a building that houses the president’s office, and painted messages on the facade at approximately 3am on Monday, the Cornell Daily Sun reported.
The messages in red paint read “SMASH THE PATRIARCHY” and “AT CORNELL RAPISTS ARE PROTECTED PROTESTORS ARE EXPELLED”. The security camera above one of the messages was also painted over.
The students who graffitied the building said in a statement to the student newspaper that they were protesting “the global systems of power that allowed this to happen in the first place”.
“We wanted to ensure that Day Hall, the center of Cornell’s administrative function, was not able to continue business as usual,” the statement added. The students’ painted message was a reference to arguments that campus officials had treated pro-Palestine protesters more harshly than students accused of sexual misconduct, with four student demonstrators suspended in 2024, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.
Kyle Kimball, a Cornell spokesperson, condemned vandalism in a statement on Monday.
“We understand the frustration and strong emotions being expressed across our community. Those concerns deserve to be heard, but damaging property is not the answer,” Kimball said. “We are investigating the vandalism at Day Hall and will address it in accordance with University policy and applicable law.”
The student activists defended their actions in a manifesto obtained by the student publication. “We reject the dogma that would condemn our actions this morning as violent while excusing rape,” they wrote. “Property damage is not violent; condoning rape is.”
The demonstrations escalated as Cornell faces widespread backlash for its handling of Jane Doe’s case, with critics saying the university had been too lenient with the accused men and had failed the victim.
According to lawyers for Jane Doe, who filed a civil lawsuit against the university and her alleged attackers earlier in September, only two members of the Chi Phi fraternity were expelled after the October 2024 incident, in which she said she was repeatedly raped over the course of seven hours. Jane Doe dropped out of Cornell after the incident.
A third fraternity member, who had already graduated, was barred from the Cornell campus, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Two more were reportedly given suspensions and disciplinary probation.
Two other men, the outlet said, were ordered not to contact the sophomore and required to study sexual harassment, social media use and bystander intervention, and to write “reflection papers”.
The lawsuit claimed that the seven fraternity members allegedly involved in the incident were “afforded the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell”.
The university has said that claim does not accurately reflect what occurred. The accused men have denied all wrongdoing.
One student protester who addressed the crowd on Monday said: “Too often, we are met with silence, we are met with statements, we are met with procedures, but not enough support. How much does it take for our university to stand with survivors?”
And a professor, according to the AP, said to applause: “Rape should not be inevitable.”
Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins county district attorney, who is also under fire for his office’s handling of the original allegations, announced last week he was reopening the case. Van Houten said Jane Doe, who was 20 at the time of the alleged assault, presented allegations in her lawsuit that were “dramatically different” from the statement she gave to police two years ago. Jane Doe’s attorney has pushed back on those claims and accused the DA of failing to do a thorough investigation after the incident.
Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, said on Thursday she was appointing Letitia James, the state’s attorney general, as special prosecutor to investigate the alleged gang rape at Cornell University.
Kotlikoff, the university president under fire, addressed the case in a video message on Saturday, saying the school would take steps to prevent a similar situation in the future. That included “a serious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life”, Kotlikoff said.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
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