Cornell rape accusation renews reputation trouble for frats
The Hill · C · trust 49/100
Link copied by Lexi Lonas Cochran - 10/03/26 6:00 AM ET Link copied NOW PLAYING The Cornell University gang rape allegation is the latest in a series of black marks for fraternities, leading critics to question why universities continue to support them.
Fraternities, almost as old as the country itself, have been a staple at colleges for young men to come together with the stated goals of teaching leadership, community service and building friendships.
But highly publicized incidents of sexual assault and hazing plague the groups, which could face a tough road to win back public trust.
The alleged gang rape of a 20-year-old woman at the Chi Phi frat at Cornell in 2024 is the latest in a long list of incidents that have made the public wary of Greek life.
A lawsuit filed last month by Jane Doe, the alleged victim who chose to remain anonymous, says on Oct. 20, 2024, she was coerced into alcohol and drugs at the fraternity and sexually assaulted by seven members.
During the alleged assault, one of the fraternity brothers sent a message to a Snapchat group for the frat saying there was “free p—-” upstairs, according to a screenshot from the lawsuit.
The lawsuit targets Cornell, the Chi Phi fraternity, the victim’s own sorority and the bar that served her alcohol at the beginning of the night when they allegedly knew she was underage.
Jud Horras, president and CEO of the Foundation for Fraternal Excellence, said the men accused of sexual assault and those who saw that message and did nothing to stop it engaged in “a complete failure of membership of their fraternal obligations.”
“Expulsion from the fraternity, as well as suspension of the entire fraternity local chapter, is the exact right decisions that needed to happen,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a less publicized incident across the country, a former Northern Arizona University frat leader was sentenced Wednesday to two months in jail over a hazing incident that resulted in the death of a pledge, one of at least three people this year who died from hazing incidents at fraternities. The victim’s parents are reportedly calling for reforms to campus Greek life.
The data on hazing incidents and sexual assaults at frats is limited, with no conclusive nationwide numbers on whether the issue has become worse or how fraternities compare to other groups such as sports teams.
But the Stop Campus Hazing Act passed in 2025 seeks to change that. Every Oct. 1, starting this year, institutions receiving federal student aid must publish their Annual Security Report and include hazing incident statistics, part of an effort to create the first national dataset showing the prevalence of hazing year-by-year.
Elizabeth Allan, professor of higher education at the University of Maine and the founder of Stop Hazing, said her studies and interviews with students have shown her many involved in these situations don’t support hazing but feel pressured by peers or alumni to keep “traditions” going.
“We often hear from students that it’s hard to change because the alumni of their organizations don’t support change, and they come back to campus, and they want to see the old ways ... They didn’t like being hazed themselves, and then when they became a leader in the organization, they tried to change, but they were outnumbered and often felt pressure from alums who, instead of being supportive of the change, reinforced the old ways,” Allan said.
“I think we could make a lot of headway toward prevention if students — if we could correct that misperceived norm,” she added. “If students knew, ‘Most of my peers agree with me that this is not good,’ and they would feel more comfortable speaking out.”
It is estimated around 750,000 undergraduates are involved in fraternities and sororities across the country.
Backlash to incidents of sexual assault and hazing are often targeted at specific organizations, rather than Greek life in general.
Indiana University has placed five different frats on cease-and-desist, while Cornell disbanded Chi Phi in 2024 after Jane Doe’s rape allegation came to light.
But some argue these punishments lack the oversight that would be needed to fix more structural problems.
“I can’t think of a fraternity that doesn’t have some level of prevention education as a core function of their required experience. I think where the opportunity exists is that that it’s got to move beyond compliance, and so what that really means is engaging in that type of education that’s designed to transform and really challenge chapter culture, as opposed to just being a box that needs to be checked,” said Jason Bergeron, executive director of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors.
“The challenge, the real challenge for accountability is how that becomes not compliance focused, but becomes a part of really building positive chapter cultures and engaging in meaningful chapter change,” he continued.
Bergeron said the frats that succeed in changing their culture are the ones that engage with the Title IX professionals on their campus and invited diversity, equity and inclusion staff to their spaces.
“I think it is a really important tool in inviting people in to sort of demystify how these conversations occur and how cultural change ultimately can occur within fraternities,” he said.
Those who support Greek life and fraternities say the negative headlines don’t represent the thousands of men who take seriously their obligation to speak out and intervene during unlawful or dangerous situations.
“The research is actually clear: Fraternity men do a better job at intervening than men who are not in a fraternity and holding peers accountable. That being said, there was a complete breakdown of the obligations of membership in this…
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