Cornell Responds as Jane Doe Questions University Support After Rape Allegations

The allegations concern an incident at Cornell University's Ithaca, New York, campus in October 2024. The former student, identified as Jane Doe, alleges she was drugged and raped by seven fraternity members, according to Yahoo News.

Her civil lawsuit concerned an alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house. TMZ reported that a former president of the fraternity has now been dropped from that lawsuit. His removal should not be confused with the dismissal of the entire case.

On October 20, 2026, TMZ reported that new legal documents confirmed the former fraternity president was no longer a defendant in Jane Doe's lawsuit. The removal followed her misidentification of him.

Attention also turned to a letter Jane Doe sent to Cornell faculty leaders. ABCNews.com reported that she said she felt "unsupported and disbelieved" by university president Michael Kotlikoff.

The account of Kotlikoff's response was secondhand, according to NBC News, which reported that Jane Doe shared it in her letter to the Faculty Senate. Yahoo News reported that her concern included an account of the president questioning why she waited to report the rape allegations.

Jane Doe said the comments diminished her confidence in the administration, according to The Independent. Separately, CBS Top Stories reported that some faculty members said they had not been shown the letter, with one faculty member alleging a "silencing of Jane Doe's voice."

Cornell has responded to Jane Doe's letter about feeling unsupported by its president, The Hill reported. The dispute now concerns both the university's response to her allegations and how her concerns reached faculty members.

Two distinctions remain important. The reported removal concerns one defendant, not an established end to the entire lawsuit. And the account of Kotlikoff questioning her allegations reached Jane Doe secondhand, rather than through a conversation she described having with him herself, according to NBC News.

The open questions include how Cornell addresses Jane Doe's concerns and whether faculty members receive access to her letter. The faculty objections reported by CBS Top Stories make the handling of that letter a separate issue from the underlying allegations.