Cornell police arrest made at fraternity house hours before alleged assault
Cornell University police arrested a person for a drug offense at the Chi Phi fraternity house on Oct. 19, 2024, roughly 22 hours before a former student claimed she was drugged and sexually assaulted there.
Campus police responded to the Chi Phi fraternity house shortly after 1 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2024, and made a drug-related arrest, according to an archived police log reviewed by NBC News. The log did not name the individual or specify the substances involved, nor did it link the arrest to the later alleged assault.
The former student, identified as Jane Doe, has sued the university and seven fraternity members, alleging she was sexually assaulted while under the influence of ketamine, alcohol and marijuana. In a later police interview, she reported having seen a fraternity member with a bag of ketamine about two months earlier and said the individual had previously overdosed and required medical treatment. The interview did not clarify the timing of those observations.
Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff described the allegations as “deeply disturbing” in a video statement and said the university must improve its response. The district attorney, Matthew Van Houten, declined to file charges, citing Doe’s initial six-page statement, which he said did not allege criminal conduct. Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, criticized the investigation as insufficient.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to review the case, questioning why the district attorney had not interviewed the complainant or reviewed the full interview transcript.