*Content Warning: This story mentions a report of sexual assault and strong language about sexual assault. *
The alleged 2024 Cornell gang rape case is raising questions at USC about transparency and accountability in wider campus investigations.
Just last week, USC DPS released its annual security report. According to the report, in 2025 there were a combined total of 10 reports of rape cases that occurred on USC campus within their record; this does not include fondling or statutory rape cases. These reports represent a general decrease in reported on-campus rape on record in comparison to the years prior, with 2022 having a high of 26 cases.
Questions about the delayed disclosure in sexual-assault cases have also emerged at USC. In 2021, USC also acknowledged a “troubling delay” in notifying the campus about multiple reports of possible drugging and sexual assault connected to fraternities.
Information concerning five to seven reports reached several campus offices by the end of September, but the university did not issue a campuswide warning until Oct. 20. During a subsequent town hall, then-Senior Vice President and General Counsel Beong-Soo Kim said the meeting convened to evaluate those reports “should have been scheduled much sooner.”
On Tuesday, USC released a statement regarding student support in an email to Annenberg Media and referenced USC websites.
“USC takes all allegations of sexual assault seriously and is committed to a safe and supportive campus environment. Information about support services, reporting options, and prevention efforts is available in USC’s culture of consent message and the prevention education document.”
The original investigation into a former Cornell student’s 2024 allegation that seven fraternity members gang raped her while at the university is being reopened after the student, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, filed a lawsuit Sept. 14 against Cornell for failing to protect her.
New York District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said in a statement to ABC News that charges were not brought against the fraternity members in 2024 because Doe’s statement did not include allegations of nonconsensual drugs or sexual activities mentioned in the recent lawsuit. He said the new evidence would be presented to a grand jury, which would determine whether criminal charges could be brought against the seven men.
The lawsuit alleges that Doe was intoxicated when she arrived at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024, where fraternity members pressured her to consume what they said was ketamine before gang raping her over several hours.
While she was being sexually assaulted, “a message was sent to the frat house Snapchat group called ‘Chi Phi Actives’ that stated there was ‘free p—y upstairs,’” according to reports. Five more members then proceeded to show up and joined in the alleged sexual assault.
Three weeks later, Doe reported the assault to campus police, according to a statement made by the Tompkins County District Attorney.
Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, claimed that only two of the seven accused students were expelled, while the remaining five received lesser sanctions, including suspensions, workshops and writing essays. Cornell has not confirmed that breakdown or disclosed the findings underlying each student’s punishment, citing federal student-privacy law. The school has disputed reports that some of the students were allowed to write essays as their sole punishment.
None of the seven students were arrested or criminally charged at the time. Shortly after, Doe dropped out of the university.
In a statement released by Cornell on Sept. 21, the university said its civil rights and student conduct offices investigated and adjudicated the allegations in 2024, according to university policies, and permanently barred the Xi chapter of Chi Phi from its campus.
In a statement on its website, the university said “federal privacy law prohibits Cornell from disclosing specific information regarding individual students and we therefore are unable to make a public statement on any other disciplinary response.”
The editorial board of The Cornell Daily Sun, the school newspaper, has called for transparency from the university in how they handled the investigation. In their letter, the board called back to a previous statement that Cornell had published in 2024, where Cornell’s interim President Michael Kotlikoff said “only those that perpetrate sexual violence benefit from its concealment.”
Cornell initially said the suspensions were imposed to “protect the immediate physical health and safety of all students.” Citing a later Faculty Senate position that interim suspension should end when the risk of harm has passed, the Editorial Board argued that Cornell has not explained what changed before some of the accused students were permitted to return to campus.
“Why were these men allowed to ‘pursue their education in a secure and nourishing environment’ and she was not?” the student-run board wrote.
Students at USC, including Vienna Beaupre, a freshman stage management major, have criticized how Cornell University handled the case.
“It’s awful that institutions, and especially ones that are so well known and highly funded, sometimes don’t seem to be able to do that due diligence to protect their students or help them after the fact,” Beaupre said.
This case has raised growing concerns among university students, who fear for their personal safety. Gracie Spencer, a sophomore creative writing major, commented on the story’s upsetting reality.
“It makes me think of other instances that could have happened at other schools or institutions or within the same institution that people didn’t feel like they could explain the situation or speak up for themselves,” Spencer said.
USC students have access to confidential, private resources for reporting and support during difficult circumstances.
The Confidential Advocates, Resources, and Education Support Center, or CARE-SC, provides students with confidential advocate services and transportation to a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART)/Forensic Exam. These services are available to USC students at no cost.
Students can also file reports to the university’s Office of Civil Rights Compliance (OCRC), formerly known as the Office of Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX (EEO-TIX). The OCRC offices manage “all reports of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation relating to protected characteristics involving community members” of USC. A university Title IX proceeding is separate from a criminal investigation, meaning a student may report to USC, law enforcement, both, or neither.