Newly obtained documents, text messages, and investigative transcripts have revealed a detailed timeline of the night a then-20-year-old Cornell University student, known as Jane Doe, alleges she was raped by multiple men at a fraternity house in October 2024. The records, which include campus police interview transcripts and Title IX investigation materials, emerge as a criminal investigation into the matter is officially reopened.
Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit on September 16, 2026, against seven former fraternity brothers, Cornell University, the Chi Phi fraternity, and others she alleges failed to protect her. While local prosecutors did not initially file criminal charges, the case has recently been reopened following the public disclosure of these investigative materials.
According to the lawsuit, the events began on the night of October 19, 2024, when Jane Doe consumed vodka to the point of intoxication at a sorority house. At approximately 8:30 p.m., she and the sorority chapter's "house mother" took an Uber to a bar in downtown Ithaca, New York, where she was served additional alcohol despite being underage. By 10:00 p.m., Doe and other sorority members moved to another local bar. At 11:00 p.m., she went alone to the Chi Phi fraternity house to meet a friend.
Doe told police that she initially engaged in a consensual sexual encounter at the fraternity house with two men she knew. In an interview conducted on November 14, 2024, with a Cornell police investigator, a university Title IX investigator, a victim's advocate, and her adviser, Doe recalled: "Yeah, as much as I can be because, again, I was super drunk when I got there. … But I was pretty OK with all of this."
However, the situation quickly escalated. By 1:42 a.m. on October 20, 2024, one of the defendants in the lawsuit sent a message in the fraternity chapter's Snapchat group stating there was a woman upstairs for "free" sex, according to a screenshot included in the lawsuit. "Shop still open?" another fraternity brother wrote later, to which the sender responded, "Yea." Doe alleges that some of the men pressured her to take ketamine until she was completely incapacitated, and multiple men then forced sex on her.
In a six-page sworn statement to Cornell police, Doe explained her mindset at the time: "I had become extremely uncomfortable with how this night was turning out, so my thought was, if I do ketamine again, maybe I will pass out. My thought was that if I passed out and these men have sex with me, then they could have been charged with rape at this point." In the Title IX investigation documents, she described hiding under the covers in a bed as more men entered the room. "I was like literally cornered," she said. "I'm a naked woman and they are getting in bed with me. And I was like, what the [expletive] is happening?" She lost consciousness around 5:45 a.m.
Doe awoke later and returned to her room at the sorority house, where she spoke with her roommates. According to Title IX records, one roommate recalled Doe laughing in shock and saying, "Oh my goodness, isn't that crazy?" The roommate noted that Doe did not initially call it rape or assault, recounting it as a "crazy thing she had done" before gradually realizing over the following days that "it was something bad and that she didn't really enjoy her time there." A second roommate recalled Doe saying, "I wasn't comfortable." On October 21, Doe spoke with her sorority "big sister," saying, "You may hear some rumors about me, and unfortunately they are true." The big sister noted that Doe had not yet processed what had happened to her.
On October 22, Doe visited Cornell Health, the campus medical clinic, to address a urinary tract infection and undergo testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Her attorney, Thomas P. Giuffra, stated that Doe disclosed to the treating healthcare professional that she contracted the UTI in a "traumatic way." According to Giuffra, the medical professional only advised Doe to "speak with somebody" and did not immediately refer her for a forensic exam. "By the time she went for the rape kit on 11/7 all of the DNA evidence was gone," Giuffra said.
Text messages exchanged between Doe and one of the defendants on October 22 and 23 show the immediate aftermath of the incident. The man began by apologizing for "how things went down," stating his memory was "kinda fuzzy" and that he and another fraternity brother felt bad for being too intoxicated to "shut it down and kick people out before it got way out of hand." Doe replied that her memory was also "super clouded" and wrote, "non(e) of the sexual stuff was illegal," adding that she liked being with him and the other man. She later suggested they smoke together again, "but like leave out the extra 5 billion men and ketamine."
On October 23, Doe texted the friend she had met at the Chi Phi house, writing, "Bro, everyone knows." She stated the episode was "RUINING my life temporarily" and that she could only "sleep and cry all day." The friend responded that she did not have "anything to be ashamed of," to which she replied, "You're right. It'll get better."
In late October, Doe saw comments on an online Greek life forum regarding Chi Phi that referenced "terrible people who had gang raped a sophomore." Doe later stated in Title IX documents, "And that's kind of when I came to the realization that I had been gang raped." Around that time, a roommate reported hearing Doe tell one of the men: "You had penetrative sex with me. I had so much ketamine, my eyes were crossed, and you still had sex with me."
On November 3, after learning she had been disinvited from a fraternity Halloween party, Doe texted two Chi Phi members: "I knew this was going to happen. The woman will always get the short end of the stick. Yall aren't my friends. Yall are covering your asses." She added, "let's be clear that 90% of what happened that night was not consensual," and stated in another text that she "felt like a sex doll/worker."
Doe underwent a sexual assault forensic exam at an Ithaca hospital on November 7, but no DNA evidence remained. Encouraged by her friends, she reported the alleged gang rape to the Cornell University Police Department on November 8. That same day, Cornell suspended the Xi Chapter of Chi Phi and temporarily suspended the seven men named in the lawsuit.
During her police interview on November 14 and 15, Doe detailed her allegations. "I can say with 100% confidence I was raped," she told investigators. The transcript shows she distinguished the initial consensual encounter from the subsequent events, stating she was "completely and totally incapacitated" later in the night. She said she did not remember the end of the night "where I was raped" and did not know how many people had sex with her, adding, "And then, of course, I was being hit at the same time. Physically hit very, very hard." She reviewed and signed a six-page statement, declaring, "I'm very confident about this."
No criminal charges were initially filed against the seven men. Cornell's internal Title IX review resulted in the expulsion of two men and the suspension of two others for at least two semesters. One man graduated before disciplinary action could be taken, and two were found not responsible for sexual misconduct. Doe's attorney noted that she dropped out of the university following the incident.
Lawyers for two of the accused men have issued statements denying the allegations, while the others have not made public statements. On September 28, 2026, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten confirmed he reopened the criminal investigation, stating he had never previously seen the transcript of Doe's interview in which she expressed "100% confidence" in the rape allegation. "I never saw it, never heard it until tonight," Van Houten said, adding that if such details were omitted, the matter "needs to be fully investigated by someone outside of Cornell."
Cornell University stated that its police department had shared the victim's sworn six-page statement and the Snapchat screenshot with the District Attorney's office. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that Cornell has agreed to hire outside counsel for an independent investigation, and she has appointed state Attorney General Letitia James to serve as special prosecutor in the case.
