Transcript shows woman says she is certain she was raped at Cornell fraternity

What Happened

A transcript obtained by CBS News New York records a woman telling Cornell campus police that she can "say with 100% confidence I was raped" after an alleged assault at the Chi Phi fraternity house that began on Oct. 19, 2024. She said she was coerced into snorting ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, became completely incapacitated, and was hit hard while multiple men entered the room.

Reaction

The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in a lawsuit filed Sep. 16, alleges seven men participated. She first approached campus police three weeks after the incident and returned for interviews on Nov. 14‑15, 2024. District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said the original police statement did not mention drugging or forced sex, but he reopened the case after new information in the lawsuit. Van Houten defended his office’s earlier decision, saying the existing statement was "very detailed, very comprehensive." Cornell University announced the investigation on Nov. 8, 2024, suspended Chi Phi the same day, and later appointed a campus task force on sexual assault. The fraternity remains barred, and the university says some students have been disciplined or expelled, though individual details are private.

Context

This case highlights how campus sexual‑assault allegations can lead to parallel criminal and university investigations, and how new evidence can prompt a district attorney to revisit a decision not to prosecute.