A sexual assault allegation at an Ivy League fraternity house has now reached the faculty floor — and the professors at Cornell University are demanding answers. Faculty members introduced a formal no-confidence resolution against the university’s central administration, escalating a months-long controversy over how school officials responded to a reported assault in 2024.
The resolution was submitted to the University Faculty Committee on Monday evening, according to a copy obtained by NBC News. In plain language, it states:
“That the Faculty Senate has no confidence in the ability of the central administration to effectively address the ongoing crisis of sexual assault at Cornell University.”
The resolution is fewer than half a page long, but its implications are significant. The full Faculty Senate is expected to take up the measure at its October 14 meeting.
What Sparked the Resolution
The push for a no-confidence vote stems from a lawsuit filed last month by a former Cornell student, identified publicly as Jane Doe. She alleges that in October 2024, she was sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members while impaired by alcohol, ketamine, and marijuana. Her lawsuit names Cornell University and seven current and former students.
The case drew protests on Cornell’s campus and widespread national criticism after reports emerged that university and local officials may not have done enough to pursue the allegations. The story prompted a #IAmJaneDoe movement on social media, with women sharing their own experiences of sexual assault at Cornell and other campuses. It also drew scrutiny of the local district attorney’s office, pushing the Tompkins County prosecutor into the national spotlight.
Separate reporting revealed that texts show Cornell fraternity brothers coordinating their responses as the accusations became public, and that tips came in just minutes after Cornell alerted students to the alleged assault at the fraternity house.
Faculty Members Speak Out
Faculty senator Paul Ortiz, a professor of labor history, said the resolution is meant to force meaningful change at the institutional level.
“The goal is to really force systemic change,”
Ortiz said, adding that students have been raising safety concerns for years.
“Students have been telling us stories they don’t feel safe, and this has been going on for a number of years,”
he said, describing the situation as a “systemic problem.” He was careful to note that the senate was not “targeting any individual,” but that students and faculty “have been unsatisfied with the response.”
“Women need to feel safe,”
he added.
Faculty sponsors of the resolution noted in an accompanying statement that “numerous Cornell colleagues” had approached them demanding action. Students told faculty they were “upset, fearful for their personal safety” and wanted the university to take campus sexual assault seriously. Cornell alumni also reached out, sharing what the statement described as “their own traumatic stories as students.” Cornell declined to comment.
Anne Marie Elizabeth Brady, a Faculty Senate member and research director for the university’s Industrial and Labor Relations Workers Institute, said the resolution came together “quickly” over recent days. Her assessment of the current campus climate was stark.
“If I was a woman on Cornell’s campus, I’d run in the other direction. Because I’m not sure Cornell is there to protect the students the way they should be.”
Brady also criticized the university’s decision to handle discipline of the seven accused men internally rather than involving outside law enforcement.
“If I’m a betting woman, I suspect they didn’t do that because they wanted to keep it secret. They wanted to manage the story.”
She characterized that approach as feeling like
“a cover-up to me.”
What Happens If the Resolution Passes
If the Faculty Senate approves the no-confidence resolution on October 14, Brady said it would open a structured series of discussions between faculty and Cornell’s leadership focused on policies related to sexual assault prevention and response.
It would not be the first time faculty have taken such a step at Cornell. A similar resolution was introduced last year related to the university’s handling of campus protests over the war in Gaza. Brady acknowledged that the recommendations that followed were “largely ignored” by administrators.
Still, Brady said there is a clear path forward if administration is willing to take it.
“If the administration came out and said: ‘you know what? we screwed up, we did A, B, and C wrong. We failed this student, we failed all our students through this process and these are the concrete ways and steps we are going to take to change.’ If they did that? That goes so far.”
For now, the Faculty Senate vote on October 14 will be a key moment in determining whether Cornell faces sustained internal pressure to reform how it handles sexual assault cases — or whether this resolution, too, gets set aside. You can watch NBC News coverage of the story for additional background on the case.
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