By The Editorial Board
There were over 50 men.
That’s how many people witnessed the explicit messages in the 2024 Chi Phi Snapchat group chat at Cornell University. Statements like “Free p—-y” were used to refer to the “Jane Doe” by defendants Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, Scott Kretzschmar, Gillio Lopes and Matthew Ingalls.
After the civil complaint filed on Sept. 14 gained popularity in the news, social media filled with women coming forward about their experiences being assaulted while in college. It’s easy to think the extremes of the Cornell case are an isolated incident; however, the sobering reality is that this has become a pandemic.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college.
Given this statistic, the punishment for some of the defendants included the “opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to the University.”
A punishment that seems rather laughable.
While two men were expelled, two were suspended, one was banned from campus, the rest of the men were able to finish their education with security from the university and a slap on the wrist. Meanwhile, “Jane Doe” continues to suffer without justice.
In a 2024 editorial, the Editorial Board highlighted the jarring statistics of sexual assault and the lack of proactivity from the University.
“One American is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds, and on a college campus, the risk is heightened,” The Lariat wrote in 2024. “So, why is our only required student training a one-time online course on relationships, sexual misconduct, consent and bystander intervention — a course that, by the way, is wildly easy to skip through?”
The statistics only get worse the deeper we look. The Red Zone refers to a time period during the start of fall semester on college campuses when sexual assault is especially prevalant.
The American Psychological Association reports, “Research has found that 50% of CSAs [campus sexual assaults] occur during the Red Zone, especially for students who are new to campus.”
On Cornell’s campus specifically, 23% of undergraduate women reported sexual misconduct in 2023 and 35% in 2025.
The Chi Phi incident has merely been swept under the rug since 2024, however, the lack of punishment from the university and dismissiveness from the local prosecutor at the time have us contemplating how women are expected to safely exist on college campuses.
While the media continues to argue whether “Jane Doe” was too intoxicated to give consent, colleges are seemingly overlooking the fact that an unconscious person was flaunted around in a group chat like a trophy.
This was someone’s daughter, someone’s friend, someone’s classmate, someone’s roommate. This isn’t just a figure that we keep hearing about in news stories. This person was treated horrifically, and over 50 men knew about it.
The harsher truth is that this happens far more often than we realize, but most victims don’t get major media coverage after they speak up. They are sent to Title IX — a system that has proved to fail victims across campuses.
And in reality, the Cornell case has shown us that reporting sexual assault to our campuses arguably can cause more harm than good. Why should victims go through the trouble and traumatization of recounting their assault to the university when the outcome brings little justice.
What good does it do for a victim to put their entire life at risk and hear from both their university and the legal system that practically nothing will be done?
Universities are avoiding this major assault problem because they are too worried about reputation management. As a result, victims are often in a worse position if they speak up.
In October 2025, a student at Louisiana State University reported to the university that she was allegedly raped by a football player.
After a monthlong Title IX investigation, the victim “received an email while she was in class to notify her that the student, who had been suspended for two semesters, had his punishment modified upon appeal to four semesters’ probation. He would remain on campus and could continue to play football.”
In 2011, a woman on the University of Missouri swim team committed suicide after reporting “an alleged rape, possibly by one or more members of its football team,” to administrators.
According to ESPN, “a campus nurse, two doctors and, according to her journal, an athletic department administrator also learned of her claim that she had been assaulted.”
After receiving the report, Mizzou did not investigate the claims or tell law enforcement.
In 2010, Lizzy Seeberg, a Saint Mary’s College freshman, reported to campus police that a football player had sexually assaulted her. Ten days later, she committed suicide; nearly a week after that was the first time the university investigated the player.
Six months later, the football player was found “not responsible” and continued to play.
Just like the “Jane Doe” at Cornell. These victims were also someone’s daughter, sister and roommate — not just a story on the news.
Don’t let this be just another statistic forgotten a week later. Complicity only encourages further harm and toleration of horrific actions. Beyond not being one of the seven, do not be one of those 50 people who stand by and say nothing.
