We, leaders and stakeholders serving the Ithaca and Tompkins County communities, demand that the Cornell University Board of Trustees and senior Ithaca campus officials take immediate, transparent, and effective steps toward terminating the campus sexual assault culture that Cornell acknowledges has persisted for too long.
We share the outrage that has been expressed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Cornell students, Cornell faculty, Cornell alumni, Ithaca and Tompkins County community members, and Americans across the country over the handling of allegations that Jane Doe was gang raped at the Chi Phi fraternity house on the Cornell campus on October 19-20, 2024.
We support Governor Hochul’s appointment of Attorney General Letitia James to conduct a new investigation of the allegations and the Governor’s call for Cornell to appoint outside counsel to review how university officials handled Jane Doe’s sexual assault report.
We speak out collectively because the persistence of sexual assault involving Cornellians impacts the wider Ithaca and Tompkins County communities. Our medical and emergency services, behavioral health providers, and sexual assault advocates are directly involved in supporting Cornell students who experience sexual assault or are affected by it in other ways. Members of our communities including our children are constantly alerted to incidents of sexual misconduct related to the Cornell campus.
We agree with Governor Hochul when she stated: “This culture has to stop. And in New York, we’re going to do everything we can to stop it.”
In Ithaca and Tompkins County, this now begins with Cornell immediately implementing robust, zero-tolerance policies and practices for preventing sexual violence, including: educating its students about sexual assault and its root causes; procedures ensuring effective Title IX and criminal investigations of assault allegations; and meaningful and timely penalties placed on perpetrators as well as Greek organizations and other entities responsible for tolerating sexual assault on their premises.
We call on Cornell to implement a system of accountability that transparently reviews and evaluates its reforms and regularly reports back to the campus, Ithaca, and Tompkins County communities on the results.
Robert Cantelmo, Mayor, City of Ithaca
Shawna Black, Chair, Tompkins County Legislature
Lea Webb, Senate Member for District 52, New York State Senate
Anna Kelles, Assembly Member for District 125, New York State Assembly
Josephine Gibson, Mental Health Association in Tompkins County
Tiffany Bloss, Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County
Crystal Howser, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Greater Central New York
Sandra Sorensen, NAMI Finger Lakes
Jennifer Brownell, Advocacy Center of Tompkins County
MindWell Psychology LLP
Anke Wessels, Center for Transformative Action
Jan Lynch, Finger Lakes Independence Center
Meryl Phipps, Village at Ithaca
Olan E. Mack, The Learning Web, Inc.
Reverend Debbie Bennett Reynolds, First Baptist Church in Ithaca
The. Rev. Dr. Jason R. Churchill, St. Luke Lutheran Church and Lutheran Campus Ministry
Rev. Kirianne E. Weaver, for the Session, First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca
Tamie Pushlar, Parents Coalition to STOP Cornell Rape Culture
Andrew Pushlar, Parents Coalition to STOP Cornell Rape Culture
Julia Taylor, Civic Ensemble
Lesley Greene, Story House Ithaca
Jonathan Miller, Story House Ithaca
Jen Pearcy-Edwards, Story House Ithaca
Darrel Harrington, Be Kind Ithaca
Samantha Shoemaker, Free Hugs Ithaca
Scott MacLeod, The Sophie Fund
October 15, 2026
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