By Audrey Elwood, Chief Columnist

The Cornell Seven are a group of men in the Chi Phi Fraternity that drugged and raped a 20-year-old woman, and the group of men who escaped accountability from their organization.

Matthew Ingalls, a man that the woman believed to be her friend, sent out message to the fraternity group chat saying, “free p***y upstairs.” This prompted the question from another fraternity member asking, “shop still open?” to which Ingalls replied “yea.”

There were 57 other men in that group chat, not one reached out to authorities on the matter, not a single one. Not only were there 57 other men, but there was also a photo of her in an unconscious state, rendered unable to consent to anything that night.

Fraternities prioritize the protection of the collective over any accountability. Hazing, while illegal is basically in every fraternity, and every year there are multiple cases of people dying or becoming paraplegic from hazing.

When the wills of these young men are broken down in a particularly brutal manner, it creates a culture submission to the higher ups. Speaking out becomes impossible and the abhorrent behaviors in fraternities are perpetuated, as it is “tradition” and normalized.

If men speak out they will lose their social standing and be ostracized from their friends if they try to hold anyone accountable. One of the purposes of Greek life is to open doors to jobs and careers from creating connections. Holding others accountable becomes not just an immediate risk, but one that can substantially limit their futures. The incentive is not to be a good person; the incentive is to protect the bad ones and become them.

These men are inherently evil, but the patriarchy perpetuates a culture where this action is rewarded. It is the rape jokes, the victim blaming and the normalization of this behavior that contribute to this culture. There is no incentive from the people at the top to change, because facing accountability means exposing rotten framework of those institutions that can help men succeed.

It is always easier to blame a victim. This is the reason why most rape cases do not go to court, why most are dropped and why there is no accountability. It is not necessary to uncomfortably sit with one’s own actions when it is so much easier to lash out at the one who spoke out in the first place.

Much of the scrutiny has been placed on the girl herself, as she originally consented to having a threesome. She was allegedly pressured into doing ketamine, which is increasingly being used as a date rape drug due to its dissociative nature.

But in New York, someone being under substances voluntarily does not make them unable to consent. It forces the victim to prove that they were incapable of consenting, which is a higher bar than being intoxicated.

Cornell is an Ivy League institution, and they made the men write essays on why they were sorry. No doubt, seven men who go to one of the top schools in the world can write an essay, but obviously that does not prevent them from allegedly raping someone.

Universities do not have an incentive to expel rapists, they have an incentive to keep quiet. The reputation of the university is more important than accountability. Until we can remove the disincentives and societal stigma of reporting sexual assault, and of standing up and having a backbone, nothing will change. Rape culture is so imbedded into society, because confronting it would unravel the social seams.