On Oct. 19, 2024, seven men from the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell University gathered at a party to, allegedly, sexually assault a female undergraduate student, identified as Jane Doe, for several hours. The Equinox feels that this act, including the way with which it was treated by local authorities and the university itself, is incredibly vile and entirely unforgivable.
While the original incident occurred nearly two years ago, the case has only recently been reopened because of a lawsuit being filed by the young woman in Jane Doe v. Cornell University, et al. At present, all clubs and student affairs at Cornell have been suspended by the mayor of Ithaca, leaving students with room to think about the incident that occurred two years prior. Allegedly, two of the men have been expelled from Cornell, and the other five were given essays to write in response to their actions, as well as suspension and/or other reprimand. The Cornell University chapter of Chi Phi has been shut down. No criminal charges or arrests have been made.
We feel that this is not nearly severe enough for the contents of the crime that was committed. These men took the time to communicate via Snapchat in a group chat where they were with the young woman; there were allegedly 57 different men in the fraternity that knew about the gang rape, but not a single one reported it or thought to tell them it was not a good idea.
Under New York State law, it only counts as rape if the victim is unconscious, forced to use some sort of drug or incapacitated in some way. This leaves a lot of room to deny that any one instance is actually sexual assault or not, and makes way for people to blame victims when unnecessary.
Many men find a matter like this as one to joke about, deeming it unserious and even going as far as to call it humorous, but we believe that grown adults not understanding the severity of instances such as sexual assault in any form paves the road for young boys to do the same. Children grow up believing what they hear from their parents or their friends, and oftentimes they will carry those sentiments into their adulthood. Middle school boys should not find this case humorous in any capacity, and they should not need to be told it is wrong by their teachers.
It is crucial to teach young boys to respect their peers so that they do not grow up to join a fraternity that is comfortable being complicit in gang rapes and hazings.
The Equinox understands that morals and laws do not always align, but we also believe that this is part of the issue to begin with. If New York state laws did not set such strict parameters for what does or does not qualify as sexual assault, perhaps the young woman’s case may have been taken seriously at the start, rather than it only being taken into consideration now that there is an impending lawsuit at play. We find it horrifying that it has taken this long for the case to be reconsidered, let alone put down in the first place. Law enforcement demands respect, but it cannot be respected if it does not keep its own citizens’ best interests at the forefront of each and every investigation.
Often when sexual assault cases are brought to light, people claim that if prosecuted, the men’s lives will be ruined. To that, we ask, what about the lives of all of the women that have had their sense of self ripped from them at the hands of their perpetrators? Many women have had similar experiences to Jane Doe at Cornell, yet they are often told they cannot speak about and are threatened if they do. Some are too ashamed to speak about it, and most are afraid to go anywhere alone ever again. All the while, their perpetrators live day-in and day-out without shame, regret or punishment for what they have done.
It is not about ruining the life of someone who has committed an atrocity; it should be about helping victims restore their own lives and helping them feel safe again. The repercussions that perpetrators face will never hold a candle to the suffering that the victims have gone through and continue to experience as receiving help or speaking out about rape is still socially discouraged and actively shamed by some. Greek Life houses are breeding grounds for incidents like this to keep happening. The mentality of “keep your mouth shut” and “don’t tell on a brother/sister” creates scenarios where people get hurt and nobody reports it in fear of being ostracized by their peers. Fraternities are breeding grounds for complicit men, and they are the same people who run for office later in life and become U.S. presidents and U.S. senators.
This can happen anywhere at any time, and it is naive to believe that it will not and has not happened here. Sexual assault is not exclusive to big universities or far-away campuses.
What will you do when it happens closer to home? If we do not speak now, where will this violence end?
