The Cornell 7: A Filipino student’s perspective on sexual violence in the United States
On September 16, 2026, Jane Doe, an anonymous victim of an alleged sexual assault, filed the case “Jane Doe v. Cornell University,” making public the Cornell University scandal. This case and how the university has chosen to handle the accused made me question what I assumed about campus safety here. For most people, this case represents institutional and systemic failures of the American system to protect young women. But as a Filipino international student studying in the United States, hearing news about events like this, along with stories about ICE deportations and school shootings, makes me question my safety, especially with no family near me to fall back on.
The alleged perpetrators, Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, and Scott Kretzschmar, have been dubbed the “Cornell 7.” They seemed like ordinary folks, some with girlfriends. Before the alleged raping, a message was sent to a Snapchat group of 57 Chi Phi brothers saying that there was “Free p**sy … pu.” One response read “Shop still open?” another “I f**king love Chi Phi,” and “Like you can walk in and whip it out.”
The actual event occurred on October 19, 2024, when a Cornell University student was allegedly drugged and raped by seven members of the fraternity Chi Phi for seven hours. The event was also announced and advertised to a group chat; no one called the police. The case was reported to the university, resulting in only two members’ expulsions, while the others received temporary suspension, reflection papers, and sexual harassment training.
Notice how casually these men discussed rape and objectified Jane Doe’s body. More frightening, however, were the bystanders. None of the 57 members of the group chat reported it for two years. Though they had no legal obligation to report the crime, their moral obligation did not sway them either. Not all men committed the crime, but all of the men refused to report it. This reveals the assistant to rape culture: the alleged perpetrators are protected by the bystanders’ silence, with little, and in this case, no exception.
A few days before this event, the fraternity house had already had a ketamine overdose where police and an ambulance were present. Usually, this leads to the fraternity house being shut down and an investigation; however, the fraternity held a sanctioned party three days later. Even at a prestigious Ivy League university with the power to suspend parties and enforce restrictions, nothing was done. The alleged gang rape occurred in a fraternity house, located on campus. The overdose should have been a warning. Instead, the fraternity held a party days later, and, as alleged, ketamine was used again, leaving Jane Doe unable to consent, speak out, or resist.
I came to the United States with little knowledge of Greek life, and I assumed campus safety here would look like what I knew at home. The limited response from the systems meant to protect students — the legal system, the educational system — has eroded trust and created a sense of insecurity.
On its website, Cornell University claims it is “unable to make a public statement on any… disciplinary response” due to “Federal privacy law.” Though they state that “We take sexual violence extremely seriously,” it’s hard to believe that reflection essays are the most appropriate consequence they could muster. Jane Doe filed the police report on November 8, 2024; three days later, the accused members were unanimously voted to be removed, along with a suspension of the frat house by the university. Furthermore, after asking for a leave of absence to deal with the trauma, Jane Doe was denied a refund for the part of the semester she would be missing and was told, “No, you have to stay in school,” where she continued to see her accused abusers regularly.
Support online has been brewing as people have started posting “I am Jane Doe” as a pushback against efforts to identify the victim. On October 4 and 5, thousands of students and community members in Ithaca, home to Cornell University, mobilized for a rally against Cornell University and rape culture in schools. Rallies also occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Boston, Massachusetts.
Leaving my country, the home I know, to study in the United States was a big step for me. Hearing about the gun violence, ICE deportations, and sexual assault cases that affect people like me — students, people of color, and women — doesn’t make that decision of mine easier. I came to the United States expecting a progressive world, not one of violence and fear.
Jane Doe’s case reminds us that problems that happen over and over aren’t coincidences; they’re systemic. It is a whole culture that needs changing: the person who assaults, the one who watches and says nothing, and the one who should punish but does not. Without this change, international students like me will continue to stay fearful of their own classmates and untrusting of their own school.