The Cornell Seven: A Timeline
By: Amira Fahira | Published on: October 8, 2026
Sep. 16, 2026 – A former student at Cornell University filed a civil lawsuit against the university, its associated Greek organizations and others, alongside seven of its male students: Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar.
The former student, known as Jane Doe in court documents, alleges that in October 2024, she was drugged and assaulted by these seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity. The lawsuit additionally alleges that there was a Snapchat group where members of the fraternity were active, in which the individuals discussed Jane Doe, using terms such as “free pussy” to encourage their fraternity members to engage in her assault.
Nov. 8, 2024 – Jane Doe reported the incident to the Cornell University Police. According to the lawsuit, the chapter of Chi Phi was temporarily suspended for these alleged violations of the student code of conduct and the seven defendants were put on temporary suspension. The lawsuit alleges that some of the students were permitted to submit essays as part of the university’s disciplinary process. Cornell has disputed characterizations that writing essays was the only disciplinary action taken against the students.
Nov. 14 – Doe made a statement to the Cornell Campus Police. Following this, information about the case was provided to the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office, which decided not to pursue criminal charges against the fraternity members at that time. Questions have since emerged regarding what evidence was provided to and reviewed by prosecutors during the initial investigation.
Nov. 26 – The President of Cornell University, Michael I. Kotlikoff, issued a statement saying that the campus police “continues to pursue its criminal investigation.” According to the lawsuit, Cornell started a Title IX investigation on Jan. 14, 2025, after Doe formally filed a complaint with the university’s Title IX coordinator.
The Chi Phi chapter closed in 2024 and has remained barred from campus since. After the incident, Kotlikoff and Cornell’s Provost, Kavita Bala, created the Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault “to focus on addressing and preventing sexual assault on campus.”
The university later stated that it was investigating the accusations internally through the Title IX office, where it held a total of 12 hearings in May 2025. Cornell has stated that two of the seven students were expelled, two were suspended for at least two semesters, two were found not responsible for sexual misconduct and one had graduated before disciplinary action could be imposed. Doe later left Cornell following the alleged assault, according to her attorney, Thomas Giuffra.
Sept. 28, 2026 – The Tompkins County District Attorney, Matthew Van Houten, announced that they would reopen the criminal investigation. The Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, has appointed Attorney General Letitia James to oversee an independent investigation of the allegations.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, please reach out to the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit https://rainn.org/help-and-healing/hotline/. The Philadelphia based sexual assault crisis center’s 24-hour hotline is 215-985-3333, you can visit their website at https://www.woar.org/.
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