Students vandalize Cornell building over handling of gang-rape allegations

Student activists vandalized a Cornell University administration building overnight in response to the university’s handling of gang-rape allegations in a high-profile case that has dominated national news.Students smashed a glass door at the entrance of Day Hall and painted messages on the walls at approximately 3am on Monday, the Cornell Daily Sun reported.The messages, which read “SMASH THE PATRIARCHY” and “AT CORNELL RAPISTS ARE PROTECTED PROTESTORS ARE EXPELLED,” were written in red paint on the two walls surrounding the doors. The security camera above one of the messages was also painted over.The actions were driven by a recent lawsuit alleging a 2024 fraternity-house gang rape and “in protest of the global systems of power that allowed this to happen in the first place”, according to a statement obtained by the student publication.“We wanted to ensure that Day Hall, the center of Cornell’s administrative function, was not able to continue business as usual,” the statement added.Kyle Kimball, a Cornell spokesperson, said in a statement that the concerns of the community were being heard, but condemned damaging school property.“We understand the frustration and strong emotions being expressed across our community. Those concerns deserve to be heard, but damaging property is not the answer,” Kimball said. “We are investigating the vandalism at Day Hall and will address it in accordance with University policy and applicable law.”The student activists defended their actions as nonviolent, in a manifesto obtained by the student publication. “We reject the dogma that would condemn our actions this morning as violent while excusing rape,” they wrote. “Property damage is not violent; condoning rape is.”Protests led by student activist groups are expected to take place on campus today.Meanwhile, Cornell is under immense scrutiny after an outcry over “leniency” shown to seven fraternity members named as the perpetrators.According to lawyers for the student, who filed a civil lawsuit against the university and her alleged attackers earlier in September, only two members of the Chi Phi fraternity were expelled after the October 2024 incident, in which she said she was drugged and repeatedly raped over the course of seven hours.Two of the Chi Phi fraternity members were expelled and a third, who had already graduated, was barred from the Cornell campus, the New York Times reports. Two more were given suspensions and disciplinary probation.Two other men, the outlet said, were ordered not to contact the sophomore, known in court papers as Jane Doe, and required to study sexual harassment, social media use and bystander intervention, and to write “reflection papers”.The lawsuit also claimed that the seven fraternity members allegedly involved in the incident were “afforded the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell”.The university said that claim does not accurately reflect what occurred. The accused men have denied all wrongdoing.Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins county district attorney, said his office was looking again at the case, after the woman, who was 20 at the time of the alleged assault, presented allegations in her lawsuit that were “dramatically different” from the statement she gave to police two years ago.Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, said on Thursday she was appointing Letitia James, the state’s attorney general, as special prosecutor to investigate the alleged gang rape at Cornell University.Additionally, in a video message on Saturday, the Cornell University president, Michael Kotlikoff, said the school would take steps to prevent a similar situation in the ⁠future. That included “a serious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life”, Kotlikoff said.