New York Governor Kathy Hochul on October 2 slammed Cornell University as she appointed Attorney General Letitia James to be an independent special prosecutor into the alleged gang rape of a 20-year-old female student on Cornell’s campus in 2024.
Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James at New York City press conference October 2
Hochul, who three days earlier raised “serious questions” about Cornell’s campus culture and its sexual assault policies, said that the victim spent hours meeting with the Cornell University Police Department and “could not have been clearer that she was 100 percent confident that she had been raped.”
“Yet, shockingly, those words never made it into the account that the Cornell police sent to prosecutors,” Hochul said, displaying emotion and anger at times during a press conference in New York City alongside James.
“In what world would the police learn from a victim that she’d been literally gang raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney?”
Hochul was apparently referencing an October 1 New York Times article a day earlier reporting that the Cornell University Police Department omitted the victim’s “unequivocal statement that she had been raped” in submitting the case to Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten for consideration.
Hochul also criticized Van Houten for declining to pursue charges after reviewing Cornell’s incomplete account: “In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript?”
Hochul said she appointed James to take over a new investigation because she lost faith in Van Houten’s ability to pursue the case further.
In Executive Order 64 on October 1, Hochul directed James to investigate the conduct of, and, if warranted, present evidence to a grand jury and prosecute the offenses alleged in a civil suit against seven Cornell students, Cornell University, and other parties by the victim, known as “Jane Doe.”
But Hochul is also demanding to know how Cornell handled Jane Doe’s complaint as well as sexual assault allegations generally, suggesting that officials of the Ivy League school may have intentionally thwarted victim allegations for the sake of its prestige.
“No institution gets to protect its reputation at the expense of a young person seeking justice,” Hochul said. “No public official gets to look the other way when the system breaks down and fails our young people. And as governor, I will not allow anyone to sweep this case under the rug.”
“This woman, this young woman, had already endured something that is utterly unspeakable. And then at every turn, she was failed by people and institutions with an obligation to protect her.”
In response to a reporter’s question, Hochul indicated that besides investigating the alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house inside the Cornell campus on October 19-20, 2024 the attorney general’s probe will review Cornell’s handling of the case.
Hochul said: “I’m deeply disturbed at Cornell University’s police and how they handled this. They’re the first ones to be able to interview [Jane Doe] and have their questions answered. And yet this young woman tells her story. Them sending a partial record over [to the district attorney] is, in my judgment, a failure.
“We’ll have the attorney general and others find out if this was actually the case of what happened. But somebody knew more than they were letting people know. And this is what shocks me so much, not just as the governor, but as a mother.”
Hochul has also demanded that Cornell commission outside counsel to undertake an independent review of its actions. She said she had spoken with Cornell President Michael I. Kotlikoff “about my desire, my insistence, that there be outside, independent counsel examining what happened on the civil side, what the university did, what they knew when, how they handled it.”
Furthermore, in a September 29 statement on the case, Hochul said: “There are also serious questions about Cornell’s campus culture and its systems for prevention, reporting, and response. That is why I am calling for outside counsel to conduct a transparent, independent review of the university’s response to determine whether Cornell met every obligation to protect its students and pursue justice.”
In Facebook and Instagram posts on September 30, Hochul said: “I want answers. And I want accountability. I spoke with Cornell’s president today, and the university has agreed to bring in outside counsel for an independent investigation. I directed my team to look at what more we can do to strengthen protections for survivors. This culture has to stop. And in New York, we’re going to do everything we can to stop it.”
At her October 2 New York City press conference, Hochul offered no defense of Kotlikoff when a reporter asked her, “Will you call for the university president to resign?”
“We don’t have enough information to draw any other conclusions at this time,” Hochul, who as governor is an Ex-Officio member of the Cornell Board of Trustees, replied. “I don’t have enough information to draw any further conclusions at this time.”
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