A lawsuit alleges that seven members of Cornell University's Chi Phi fraternity gang-raped a woman on October 19, 2024. While criminal prosecutors declined to bring charges, a university Title IX probe led to the fraternity's closure and the expulsion of several students.
The October 19 assault and the Chi Phi Snapchat group
The allegations center on an event that began on October 19, 2024, when a victim, identified as Jane Doe, attended an afterparty at the Chi Phi house. According to the report, Jane Doe claims she was pressured to consume marijuana and ketamine, leaving her disoriented and incapacitated. She alleges that the assault was coordinated via a Chi Phi Snapchat group, where members were reportedly encouraged to enter the room and engage in sexual activity.
The ordeal reportedly continued into the early hours of October 20, 2024, ending around 5:45 AM when the victim lost consciousness. This specific detail regarding the use of social media to facilitate the assault highlights a modern, digital layer of coordination in campus sexual violence cases, turning a private residence into a coordinated site of abuse.
Expulsions for Matthew Ingalls and Jonathan Newell
Following a Title IX investigation launched in 2025, Cornell University took decisive administrative action despite the lack of criminal charges. The university permanently shut down the Chi Phi fraternity and expelled students Matthew Ingalls and Jonathan Newell. Other students, including Winston Lee and Gillio Lopes, faced suspensions before eventually re-enrolliing, while Diego Sarabia, a graduate, was banned from the Cornell University campus.
As the report says, not all accused men faced the same penalties; Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar were found not responsible for the sexual activity. Notably, Matthew Ingalls contested the claims during the Title IX process, asserting that he was actually the victim of an assault by Jane Doe.
Text messages and the "consensual orgy" narrative
Police records suggest that the Chi Phi fraternity attempted to orchestrate a cover-up to shield their reputation. A female witness told authorities that fraternity leadership held a meeting to align their stories, describing the night's events as a "consensual orgy" to avoid public backlash. This attempt to rewrite the narrative suggests a calculated effort to protect the social standing of the members involved.
Further evidence recovered by authorities includes text messages from Chi Phi leadership questioning Matthew Ingalls about his interactions with the victim. These messages, according to the report, indicate a concerted effort to silence witnesses and manipulate the facts of the case before they could reach university officials or law enforcement.
The seven-hour sit-in at Toni Morrison Dining Hall
The perceived failure of the legal system to secure criminal convictions sparked a massive student response at Cornell University. A coalition of students organized a seven-hour sit-in at the Toni Morrison Dining Hall, with each hour of the protest dedicated to one of the seven accused men. The demonstration was not merely about this single case, but a broader demand for transparency and better protections for survivors of sexual violence.
This incident echoes a growing national tension regarding the "protected" status of students at Ivy League institutions.. The protest at the Toni Morrison Dining Hall underscores a belief among the student body that institutional privilege often allows wealthy or well-connected students to bypass the criminal justice system, even when university probes find them responsible.
Why criminal prosecutors declined charges against the seven men
A critical gap remains in the public record regarding why criminal prosecutors initially declined to bring charges, citing only a "lack of sufficient evidence." While the university's Title IX process—which operates on a lower burden of proof—found enough evidence to expel students and ban others, the criminal justice threshold was not met. it remains unclear what specific evidence the prosecutors found lacking or if the alleged witness intimidation influenced the initial prosecutorial decision.
Furthermore, the source provides the perspective of the victim and the university's findings, but does not include a direct response or detailed legal defense from the prosecutors' office. This leaves an open question as to whether the evidence of the Snapchat coordination and the cover-up meetings was considered during the criminal evaluation.
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