Cornell University has suspended all fraternity house parties for the remainder of the school year as an alleged 2024 gang rape at the Ivy League campus continues to draw national attention.
University President Michael Kotlikoff announced Tuesday, in a letter to the campus community, that fraternity houses will host no social gatherings until fall 2027 while the school examines whether its Greek life system should continue at all.
The ban follows weeks of protests over a lawsuit alleging that seven brothers from the campus chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity drugged and gang-raped a female student in October 2024.
“All parties and social events in Interfraternity Council (IFC) houses at Cornell will be suspended for the remainder of the 2026-2027 academic year,” Kotlikoff wrote. “These measures will provide time for a thorough review of fraternity life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue.”
The university president made clear the school will not tolerate any rule-breaking.
“There will be zero tolerance for violations of this directive,” Kotlikoff said. “Any fraternity holding an in-house party or social event will receive an immediate emergency suspension.”
According to the letter, the administration will work with members of the community to find other ways for students to engage in social activity on campus.
Kotlikoff also characterized the alleged actions of the seven Chi Phi brothers as sexual violence, even though the case remains under investigation.
“I am deeply sorry for the harm Jane Doe suffered in 2024, and appalled that this act of sexual violence occurred within our Cornell community,” he wrote. “It is clear that women on our campus continue to question whether they are safe.”
The letter stated that New York State Police investigators will handle sexual assault allegations on campus while an outside review led by former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates is underway.
Cornell did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The lawsuit at the center of the controversy was filed Sept. 16 by a former student identified as Jane Doe. According to the suit, which names Cornell and the seven Chi Phi members, the fraternity brothers drugged her with ketamine and raped her in October 2024.
The case has since drawn the involvement of top state officials. Attorney General Letitia James took over the case as special prosecutor on Oct. 1 at the direction of Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
That move came days after Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced in a Sept. 28 press release that his office was reopening its 2024 investigation.
In that release, Van Houten pointed to the account Jane Doe originally gave investigators.
“Jane Doe’s statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual,” Van Houten stated.
The party ban marks a dramatic step by the elite university, which now faces a sweeping review that could determine the future of fraternity life on its campus, as state investigators and the attorney general’s office continue to examine the allegations.
