Tompkins County

Community Statement Concerning Cornell University

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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

Governor Hochul Slams Cornell University’s Handling of Campus Gang Rape Case

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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.”

Latest on School Bullying in Tompkins County

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Tompkins County children are getting bullied at school, outside of school, and online. But the most recent survey of students, in 2025, showed a slight decrease in online bullying although bullying at school and outside school remained relatively constant.

More than a quarter of Tompkins County students grades 6-12 say they were bullied at school

However, the survey results show Tompkins County with a significantly higher prevalence of bullying compared to the national average.

According to the 2025 Community-Level Youth Development Evaluation (CLYDE) survey of 3,952 students, 18.2 percent reported being bullied electronically compared to 20.4 percent in 2023.

More than a quarter of students in grades 6-12 said they were bullied at school, with the greatest prevalence occurring in middle school grades.

Overall, 27.9 percent of Tompkins students in the survey said they were bullied at school; 20.2 percent were bullied outside school; and 18.2 percent were bullied electronically.

Eighth graders reported the highest percentages, with 34.1 percent, 24.1 percent, and 19.6 percent saying they were bullied in those categories, respectively.

The 2025 results saw data similar to the 2023 results for bullying at school and outside school, when the figures were 27.7 percent and 20.8 percent, respectively.

In the national 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), 19.7 percent of U.S. high school students reported being bullied at school and 14.6 percent bullied online. Those figures were lower than the high school figures in Tompkins County except for seniors bullied at school.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a good time to check out The Sophie Fund’s “Bullying Prevention Resources for Schools and Families.” This is a new updated guide for the 2026-2027 school year with information about how bullying affects individuals and communities and what we can do to prevent it.

For schools, the guide contains resources for curricula, discussion plans, activity kits, infographics, videos, art projects, coloring books, role playing, pledge signing, clubs, Bullying Prevention Month activities, and special websites for teens and kids.

The Sophie Fund distributed the guide to all school leaders as well as Parent-Teacher Organizations/Associations in Tompkins County.

“The guide presents a brief overview of bullying and its impacts as well as national and local data illustrating the extent of the problem,” said Scott MacLeod, co-founder of The Sophie Fund.

“But the focus of the guide is on providing schools with resources with which to proactively prevent bullying. It lists resources that schools can use to organize bullying prevention activities year-round and especially for National Bullying Prevention Month in October.”

For parents and their children, the guide provides detailed information about how to file a complaint to school officials about bullying, harassment, or discrimination under the New York State Dignity for All Students Act (DASA).

The Dignity Act is set up so that everyone has a role in supporting a child when bullying occurs. Parents and family members should know that they are not alone, if they ever find themselves in this situation, and that the best thing they can do for their child is to work in partnership with their school Dignity Act Coordinator to address the issue and to improve their child’s experience.

DOWNLOAD Bullying Prevention Resources for Schools and Families

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. The Sophie Fund encourages schools and youth-serving organizations to use the occasion to provide educational programming and activities designed to reduce (and hopefully eliminate) bullying behaviors.

DOWNLOAD Tompkins County Schools Dignity Act Coordinators

Bullying can have negative and even life-long impacts on both victims and aggressors. Bullying can have a negative long-term impact on mental health, substance use, and it even has links to suicide.

According to StopBullying.gov, kids who are bullied are more likely to experience:

  • Depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy.
  • Health complaints.
  • Decreased academic achievement, school participation, and attendance.

Kids who bully others are more likely to:

  • Abuse alcohol and other drugs in adolescence and as adults.
  • Get into fights, vandalize property, and drop out of school.
  • Engage in early sexual activity.
  • Have criminal convictions and traffic citations as adults.
  • Be abusive toward their romantic partners, spouses, or children as adults.

DOWNLOAD Bullying Prevention Resources for Schools and Families

Ithaca Hosts State’s Suicide Prevention Conference

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New York State’s annual suicide prevention conference will take place this year in Ithaca, next week at the Ithaca Conference Center: “Rooted in Action: Innovative Approaches for Rural Suicide Prevention.”

The conference is hosted by the Office of Mental Health’s Suicide Prevention Center of New York (SPCNY) on September 29-30. Due to strong demand the conference is at capacity with hundreds of attendees and registration is closed.

Besides being the venue for the event, Ithaca features prominently in the program.

An entire panel will discuss Tompkins County’s steps toward strengthening its suicide prevention practices: “Implementing the Zero Suicide Model: the Tompkins County Experience.” Zero Suicide is a framework of systematic screening, assessment, and specialized treatment used by healthcare providers to prevent suicide deaths among their patients.

The panelists include:

Andreia deLima, Chief Medical Officer, Cayuga Health/Centralus Health

Laura Sidari, Program Director and Consulting Psychiatrist, Cayuga Integrated Behavioral Health, Cayuga Health

Tiffany Bloss, Executive Director, Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service of Tompkins County

Harmony Ayers-Friedlander, Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health Services, Tompkins County Whole Health

The panel will be moderated by SPCNY Director Jay Carruthers.

Laura Sidari will also participate in a panel called “Collaborative Care: Integrating Behavioral Health into Primary Care.” She will be joined by Amy L. Jones-Renaud, Director, Primary Care Behavioral Health Integration, Office of Mental Health.

Tiffany Bloss will also speak at a panel titled “LOSS Teams: Support for Recently Bereaved Suicide Survivors.”

The conference features 18 breakout sessions in addition to several plenary sessions. Among the topics covered are suicide prevention programming in rural schools, the role of faith leaders, firearms safety, and engaging rural veterans in mental health services.

The conference keynote address will be given by Vernon E. Davis II, an army veteran and comedian who has experienced suicidal thoughts.

DOWNLOAD Tompkins County Suicide Prevention

“Tompkins County is honored and excited to welcome colleagues from across New York State to the 2026 New York State Suicide Prevention Conference. As a rural county, we are eager to learn from one another, share innovative approaches, and build on the important work happening in communities across our state,” said Deputy Commissioner of Mental Health Services Harmony Ayers-Friedlander.

“We are proud to share the strategies we have developed locally through the Tompkins County Suicide Prevention Coalition, including our coordinated implementation of the Zero Suicide Model across the healthcare system, spanning higher education, primary care, and mental health treatment services.

“We have also made supporting first responders and creating more trauma-informed approaches to crisis response a community priority through our Crisis Alternative Response and Engagement Team, or CARE, co-response model, bringing mental health and law enforcement together, as well as the City of Ithaca’s new Responders Offering Outreach, Trust and Support, or ROOTS, unarmed responder program.

“Tompkins County is also home to a regional 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline call center at Suicide Prevention & Crisis Services, providing a range of support through its hotline, warm line, and text services.

“Together, these efforts reflect what is possible when a community comes together with compassion, collaboration, and a shared commitment to saving lives. We have made meaningful progress, and there is still more work ahead.”

Cayuga Health: Advancing Suicide Prevention

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Centralus Health is recognizing September as National Suicide Prevention Month, joining organizations and communities across the country in raising awareness, reducing stigma, and encouraging meaningful conversations about mental health and suicide prevention.

Throughout the month, team members are helping bring greater visibility to suicide prevention and the importance of connection. During Suicide Prevention Week, staff across the health system hosted resource tables and shared mental health and suicide prevention resources with patients, visitors, and colleagues.

Centralus Health is a collaborative network uniting Cayuga Health in Ithaca and Arnot Health in Elmira. As part of its focus on strengthening suicide prevention in clinical care, Centralus Health welcomed Dr. Virna Little, a nationally recognized leader in suicide prevention, on September 11 for a Grand Rounds presentation, “Optimizing Suicide Care.”

The presentation focused on evidence-based approaches to suicide risk screening and assessment, strategies for integrating suicide care into clinical workflows, and best practices for improving continuity and follow-up for individuals at risk for suicide.

Our health system has endorsed the Zero Suicide Model, a framework that recognizes suicide prevention as a core responsibility of healthcare. Through this commitment, the health system continues to foster an environment where suicide risk is recognized, concerns are taken seriously and individuals experiencing a mental health crisis receive compassionate, coordinated care.

We have made systemic improvements in suicide care since 2018. We formed a system-wide Zero Suicide Implementation Team, sub-teams for component units, and conducted a Zero Suicide Self-Study and a Workforce Survey. We have implemented core Zero Suicide practices within the Emergency Department, inpatient Behavioral Health Unit, and the Cayuga Integrated Behavioral Health (CIBH) program which embeds behavioral health clinicians within primary care practices.

New York State’s Office of Mental Health recognized our efforts for systemic improvement with a Spotlight Story in “1,700 Too Many: New York State’s Strategy for Suicide Prevention 2026-2030,” announced on September 10 by Governor Kathy Hochul.

Centralus Health is also supporting suicide prevention efforts in the communities it serves, including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Greater Ithaca Walk. The September 12 event in Lansing’s Myers Park brought community members together to raise awareness, honor those affected by suicide and support suicide prevention research, education, and advocacy.

National Suicide Prevention Month is an important reminder that suicide prevention is a shared responsibility. Through education, awareness, compassionate care and community partnership, Centralus Health remains committed to helping create communities where people feel seen, supported and connected to help when they need it.

—By Andreia de Lima, MD

Andreia de Lima is Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Centralus Health’s Cayuga Medical Center and Schuyler Hospital

If you or someone you know feels the need to speak with a mental health professional, you can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.