Police records indicate that Cornell University fraternity members accused of gang rape allegedly sought to suppress a witness and shield Chi Phi’s reputation.
The Ivy League university has faced mounting criticism since a woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit last month. She alleges that seven Chi Phi members coerced her into taking drugs and sexually assaulted her at an off-campus residence in 2024.
Prosecutors previously concluded that there was “insufficient evidence” to pursue criminal sexual assault charges. Cornell opened a Title IX investigation in 2025 and subsequently closed the fraternity.
Among the seven accused men, Matthew Ingalls and Jonathan Newell were expelled. Winston Lee and Gillio Lopes were suspended and have since returned to the university. Diego Sarabia, who had already graduated, was barred from campus. Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar were found not responsible for sexual activity allegations and received penalties that did not include expulsion or suspension.
All seven men have denied wrongdoing.
The lawsuit has triggered national scrutiny of the case and the way it was handled by authorities. On Wednesday, students planned a seven-hour sit-in, with each hour representing one of the accused fraternity members.
The student coalition protesting Cornell’s response to the allegations gathered at Toni Morrison Dining Hall at 1:30 p.m. ET and planned to remain there until 8:30 p.m.
The demonstration followed the disclosure of records showing that Cornell police received a tip alleging the fraternity members attempted to discourage a potential witness from speaking out after Jane Doe filed a police report.
Cornell students are staging a seven-hour sit-in—one hour for each fraternity member accused in Jane Doe’s case—to protest the university’s handling of the allegations.
Cornell has been at the center of controversy since Jane Doe sued last month, alleging that seven Chi Phi members drugged and sexually assaulted her at an off-campus house in 2024.
According to school records reviewed by ABC News, Chi Phi members allegedly urged a potential witness to remain silent after a campus-wide alert reported a rape on November 8, 2024. The message reportedly warned that “the reputation of all involved and the frat would be ruined.”
The woman later brought the alleged attempt to silence her to police.
“Chi Phi held a meeting essentially to get all of the men on the same page about what happened. I know for a fact there are group messages about the situation,” the witness allegedly told investigators.
She said the fraternity members characterized the encounter as a “consensual orgy” while worrying that it “would be bad for [their] image.”
In a police interview, one of two fraternity members questioned about the allegations said the incident was discussed during a regularly scheduled chapter meeting.
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“We didn’t have a meeting about it specifically,” he said. “It was our weekly chapter meeting. We got through a bunch of stuff.”
Text messages also show fraternity leaders contacted Ingalls after the alert and asked, “When was the last time you spoke to [Jane Doe]?”
“Yesterday… what’s the plan of action?” Ingalls responded. “Should I call [her]? I don’t think she would have reported this.”
The records surfaced after Cornell police received a tip alleging that Chi Phi members tried to discourage a potential witness from speaking in an effort to protect the fraternity’s reputation.
According to the lawsuit, one of the men allegedly posted in the fraternity’s active-members Snapchat group that there was “free p***y” upstairs, referring to Jane Doe; the filing included an image purportedly showing the chat.
Jane Doe claimed the night of October 19, 2024, began with underage drinking at several bars with sorority sisters before she was then invited to an afterparty at the Chi Phi fraternity house, and she ‘stumbled alone’ to meet up with her friend, Ingalls.
She said she then agreed to have sex with Ingalls and another man, but alleged that she was pressured to snort ketamine and smoke marijuana as she became heavily intoxicated.
Jane Doe alleged that she became disoriented as other men joined in, all while the men sent a message to the Chi Phi Snapchat group to say there was ‘free p***y upstairs’ in an invite for others to enter the room as well.
The messages also allegedly included an invitation to ‘walk in and whip it out,’ the lawsuit claims.
She said the horrific night ended at around 5.45am on October 20, 2024, when she lost consciousness and eventually returned to her sorority house.
Three weeks later, she reported the incident to the police, but prosecutors declined to bring charges, citing ‘insufficient evidence.’
During Cornell’s Title IX investigation, Ingalls claimed that he was assaulted by Jane Doe.
‘After all, you received information that I was sodomized by her while I was incapacitated back in November, and you never once thought to alert me of my rights under these procedures as a survivor of this assault?’ Ingalls wrote in an email.
‘The very fact that I had to bring this to your attention now in February confirms my worst fears: That this process is rolled [sic] with gender discrimination.’