Hundreds of Cornell students rallied in support of “Jane Doe” after activists vandalized an administration building. They are demanding fraternity abolition and resignations.
Hundreds, possibly more than a thousand, Cornell University students, faculty and community members marched across campus Monday in a “Justice for Survivors” rally demanding firmer action against sexual violence, hours after unknown activists smashed glass doors and spray-painted messages on Day Hall, the university’s main administrative building. The woman at the center of the case, known publicly only by the pseudonym Jane Doe, has alleged the university failed to adequately investigate and punish fraternity members involved in a 2024 gang rape at the Chi Phi house.
The predawn vandalism, which Cornell University Police said occurred around 3 a.m., included graffiti reading “At Cornell rapists are protected, protesters are expelled” and “Smash the patriarchy.” In a statement to the student newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun, the anonymous activists said the act was motivated both by the ongoing lawsuit and by what they called “global systems of power that allowed this to happen in the first place.” Cornell spokesperson Kyle Kimball said the university was investigating the vandalism. Demonstrators later marched through campus carrying signs reading “Justice for every Jane Doe” and “Cornell admin betrays survivors, resign now,” ending at Day Hall.
Protest organizers are demanding the abolition of fraternity life under Cornell’s Interfraternity Council, the resignation or termination of named administration officials, the replacement of the university’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards with what they call a “democratic disciplinary system,” and the expulsion or revocation of degrees for all Chi Phi members found complicit in the alleged assault. The rally follows New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision last week to remove Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten from the case and appoint Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor, and comes days after Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff pledged a broader review of fraternities and sororities.
This report is based on information from Reuters, Al Jazeera, the Cornell Daily Sun, CNN and The Washington Post.