A gang rape allegation at Cornell highlights how Title IX guides campus sex assault cases

Cornell University’s handling of an alleged fraternity house gang rape is raising questions about how a decades-old federal civil rights law shapes colleges' treatment of campus sexual assault.

The focus on Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in education, comes after a woman identified only as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit last month against Cornell and seven fraternity members.

She said she was assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024 after being pressured into snorting the fast-acting sedative ketamine, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. The accused men have all denied her allegations, either saying the sexual activity was consensual or they weren’t involved.

Title IX was best known for most of its 54 years for opening doors for female athletes. But guidance issued in 2011 under President Barack Obama's administration made clear it also protects people who say they were sexually assaulted or harassed.

The rules have changed with new presidential administrations, but Title IX proceedings are intended to help colleges decide how to discipline the people involved, regardless of whether they face criminal or other legal repercussions.

A sexual assault case can be handled in criminal court and through the campus-run Title IX disciplinary process at the same time.

In theory, the criminal proceeding could lead to prison time and the Title IX case to expulsion.

In reality, serious consequences are rare in either system, said Megan Greeson, a professor of community psychology at DePaul University. She was among the authors of a review of studies involving 288,066 cases that found around 20% of those reported to police are prosecuted and 8% lead to convictions.

Jane Doe was no exception. Days after she gave her first substantial interviews to campus police, the county district attorney in upstate New York decided not to prosecute.

Long after that, Jane Doe believed the criminal investigation was ongoing. Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, said she was “misled.”

Her case illustrates a common complaint with the dual-track system. Greeson said she often hears: “What do you mean there’s two different investigations?”

On the surface, Title IX investigations look a lot like police investigations. Witnesses are interviewed, and the accused often hire attorneys. The process is so demanding that many victims drop their case or choose to go an informal route, in which the accused might be asked not to take classes with the accuser, or to switch universities — often with no mark on their record.

When cases proceed to a hearing, schools have a lower bar for determining culpability than the justice system’s standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. Title IX requires schools to find an accused student responsible if the evidence shows the allegations are more likely true than not.

Beyond expulsions, consequences can include suspensions, loss of scholarships or withholding of a degree. A culpability finding can be noted on transcripts, which can make it difficult to get into graduate school or to obtain a state license in certain fields.

At some universities, including Cornell, Title IX offices handled fewer complaints after regulations narrowed the definition of sexual harassment during President Donald Trump’s first term.

Critics argued the rules discouraged students from coming forward with abuse allegations. Those who did faced a live hearing and cross-examination by a person of their alleged attacker’s choosing.

Former President Joe Biden's administration overhauled the rules to expand the type of behavior that’s considered sexual harassment. Rules finalized in 2024 also provided recognition that Title IX protects LGBTQ+ students and made live hearings optional.

A federal judge in Kentucky overturned Biden’s changes in early January 2025. Trump's current administration subsequently reverted to the 2020 rules in a change that became official last month.

Cornell’s Title IX complaints fluctuated as the regulations changed, falling from 205 in 2019 to 98 in 2020, when COVID-19 also shut down campuses, before rising to 166 in 2024.

Additionally, the Education Department ’s Office for Civil Rights used to serve as a powerful enforcer in cases of campus sexual violence. Under Obama and Biden, it brought the weight of the government against schools that mishandled sexual assault complaints involving students. But investigations have dwindled since Trump returned to office.

“There’s become fewer and fewer avenues for accountability and support that students are able to access with the way the current administration is enforcing or really choosing not to enforce Title IX,” said Emma Grasso Levine, the manager of Know Your IX, which works to address campus sexual violence.

It started about three weeks after the alleged assault, when Jane Doe went to campus police. That same day, the head of Cornell’s fraternities contacted the school’s Title IX office. The Chi Phi fraternity house was immediately suspended and later closed for good.

The following week, Jane Doe met twice with Title IX and campus police investigators, according to court records filed after one of the accused students sued Cornell over his punishment.

Investigators ultimately conducted 50 interviews with 32 witnesses and gathered evidence that included social media messages. The process led to a disciplinary hearing that stretched over 12 days in May 2025.

Although the alleged gang rape happened during the brief time Biden’s versions of the rules were in place, Jane Doe faced a live hearing because an injunction had stalled them from going into effect at hundreds of colleges, including Cornell.

At least one accused student wasn’t happy with the process. At one point, a hearing panel member listened to testimony over Zoom while driving for 45 minutes, according to the accused student's lawsuit. The student alleged it was a distraction that hurt his defense.

Ultimately, some of the accused students were suspended or expelled. Two were asked to write reflection essays as part of their punishments.

Those were unusual outcomes. From 2018 to 2024, 1,216 Title IX complaints were reported to Cornell, with just 4% resulting in a finding that one of the accused was responsible. Only 14 cases led to suspensions and seven to expulsions or dismissals. Lighter consequences, such as written reprimands, were more typical.

Amid calls for Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff to resign over the handling of the investigation, the school announced Tuesday that it was suspending parties at fraternity houses and will give New York State Police a role in investigating sex crimes on campus.

Kotlikoff also committed to adding a case manager to the school’s Office of Civil Rights to help those who report sexual misconduct navigate the process. A review of Cornell's handling of sexual assault claims also is underway.

“I believe,” Kotlikoff said in an earlier apologetic video, “we as an administration and we as a community must do better.”

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Demonstrators attend a protest against Cornell University's handling of the 2024 fraternity-house gang rape allegations at the campus, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Ithaca, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

A demonstrator holds a sign reading "WE ARE JANE DOE" during a protest against Cornell University's handling of the 2024 fraternity-house gang rape allegations at the campus, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Ithaca, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Pope Leo XIV had the lower section of his right lung removed after doctors diagnosed him with the most common form of lung cancer. While lung cancer is a leading killer, survival rates can be high if it's caught early, as the pope’s tumor appears to have been. Here are some things to know.

The Vatican announced the pope’s diagnosis as lung adenocarcinoma, which is one of many forms of lung cancer.

There are two main groups, small cell and non-small cell lung cancers. The non-small cell kind make up the vast majority of the world’s cases and adenocarcinoma is its most common subtype. Even it comes in varieties that can grow faster or slower.

“While it’s still very dangerous, it has slightly higher cure rates than other types of lung cancer,” said Dr. John Heymach of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. But as many as 1 in 5 lung cancers occur in people who have never smoked and it's not clear why, maybe in some cases just random chance, Heymach said.

Other risks include exposure to radon gas, asbestos, radiation, secondhand smoke and air pollution, according to the American Cancer Society.

Lung cancer symptoms don’t usually appear until the cancer is advanced, according to the cancer society. They can include a persistent cough, chest pain, a hoarse voice, shortness of breath, and recurrent pneumonia or bronchitis — symptoms important to get checked.

Sometimes, lung cancer can be found early when someone has an X-ray or other scan that shows a spot in a lung that needs further investigation. That’s called an incidental finding, leading doctors to investigate well before symptoms and possibly early enough that the cancer remains small and hasn't spread. In the pope’s case, a nodule in his lung was spotted during another exam.

In the U.S., yearly screening with a low-dose CT scan, a type of X-ray, is recommended for certain people at high risk because of heavy smoking.

Surgery is a mainstay when lung cancer is detected early, and increasingly is used even in more advanced stages. The pope had the lower section, or lobe, of his right lung removed to try to ensure that all of the cancer was removed.

The right lung has three sections or lobes while the left has two. Each lobe has its own airway branch and dedicated blood vessels and when one is removed, “the other lobes actually pick up some of the work,” said Dr. Ben Zhang, a thoracic surgeon at Allina Health in Minneapolis.

The lungs gradually compensate over several months until most people, especially those who already were physically active, notice little to no difference with exertion, he said.

The pope is known to engage in weekly tennis games and swimming.

In the U.S., the average hospital stay after lung cancer surgery is two nights, Zhang said. It depends in part on how quickly the patient can get up and walk around, as well as pain and how long a tube that can drain air and fluid from the chest is needed.

The pope was walking the next day, which Heymach called “typically a harbinger of a quicker recovery.”

Whether additional treatment is needed depends on the tumor’s stage, based on factors such as its size and whether it shows signs of spreading via the lymph nodes, and if markers on its cells suggest it may be aggressive. Additional treatment can be chemotherapy, used before surgery to shrink a tumor or afterward to attack any lingering cells. Other options include radiation, immunotherapy or what are called targeted drugs aimed at specific molecular drivers of a tumor.

The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Pope Leo XIV arrives at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, where he's expected to be operated to remove a lung nodule. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Medical Director Andrea Cambieri, right, greets Pope Leo XIV as he arrives at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, where doctors expect to operate to remove a lung nodule. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)