Ketamine Emerges as Key Factor in Alleged Assault by 7 Cornell Fraternity Members
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 5
Ketamine Emerges as Key Factor in Alleged Assault by 7 Cornell Fraternity Members
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 5
Summary
More than 1,000 pages of Cornell files place ketamine at the center of a 2024 alleged gang rape at a Chi Phi fraternity party, according to records reviewed by The New York Times.
The woman, identified in a lawsuit filed last month as Jane Doe, said fraternity members pressured her to take ketamine for the first time before seven men sexually assaulted her and later snorted the drug off her body.
Her account says she returned to her sorority house dazed and told sisters only one word — "Ketamine" — as bruises began to ache.
All seven men deny wrongdoing and say any sexual contact was consensual; none has been criminally charged, and the Tompkins County district attorney previously declined prosecution.
The case has already led Cornell to punish the seven members and ban Chi Phi from campus, fueling wider debate over consent and drug use on college campuses.
Why did Cornell quietly issue punishments ranging from expulsion to essays for a brutal 2024 assault without explaining who did what?
How did Cornell investigators uncover damning Snapchat evidence of a 2024 assault that local prosecutors completely missed for two years?
Will a newly appointed special prosecutor finally bring criminal charges, or will New York's controversial intoxication laws protect the accused fraternity members?