By Jacob Halbesma, Local & National Editor
Seven men in prestigious Cornell University’s Chi Phi chapter are under criminal investigation after committing an alleged October 2024 gang rape involving Schedule III controlled substances and Title IX punishments.
A former Cornell student, identified in court documents as the anonymous Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit on Sept. 16, 2026, claiming she was drugged with doses of ketamine and sexually abused by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at their house on Oct. 19, 2024. The lawsuit alleged that fraternity members posted photos of the victim on Snapchat at 1:42 a.m., writing that she was “available.”
The seven accused fraternity members named in the documents are Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar. Their attorneys have denied all allegations made against them, with most stating they never touched or assaulted the plaintiff.
An anonymous Cornell student filed a civil lawsuit against seven fraternity members who assaulted her in 2024.
Cornell University stated it barred the Chi Phi chapter from its campus, as well as imposing punishments after a Title IX investigation. Cornell also denied claims that it gave light punishments or let the students clear their alleged guilt with short essays explaining their wrongdoings.
Online backlash from a variety of personalities and celebrities, including actor Florence Pugh and politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, led to increased exposure to the case and national networks picking the story up.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced that the case is being presented to a grand jury to properly determine what charges to bring forward. He said in a statement that his office was deciding whether to bring criminal charges against the alleged rapists but claimed the allegations in the complaint are “dramatically different” from Doe’s previous police statement from 2024.
“As a woman in college myself, the dismissal of this case would make me fear that women will feel even less inclined to report cases in an instance they are not believed,” said University of Wisconsin-La Crosse sophomore criminology and psychology major Hannah Halbesma said.
Summaries of the statement from Doe show that she told police that she had originally consented to sexual activity with multiple members of the fraternity but had difficulty remembering what had happened afterwards.
Cornell declined to publicly affirm individual disciplinary outcomes, citing certain federal student privacy regulations.
Online, many came to defend Doe, condemning elite university’s culture and claiming they tend to protect boys in fear of their futures and the school’s reputation being destroyed by allegations like these.
“As Greek-life culture continues to grow at many universities, including Xavier, I hope to see more accountability enforced upon its members and other perpetrators so students know that their actions will be taken seriously, regardless of their status or connections,” Halbesma said.