Woman told Cornell investigators she 'felt like bait' during alleged gang rape

A Cornell University student alleged she felt like bait during a gang rape at a fraternity house, according to records from the school's disciplinary investigation. The woman, known only as Jane Doe, sued the university and seven former students last month, claiming she was given ketamine and repeatedly assaulted at a fraternity house in October 2024.

Cornell investigators interviewed the woman and the accused men, but the local district attorney declined to file criminal charges. A lawyer for one accused man filed documents from the school's investigation in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the university's punishment and remove it from his academic record. The investigation included 50 interviews with 32 witnesses and 12 days of hearings.

The woman said she consented to sex with one man and one of his friends, but later alleged she was pressured into taking ketamine, marijuana, and alcohol and was too intoxicated to consent. Other men entered the room, some drawn to a Snapchat message advertising the woman's body as available. The woman told investigators she was too intoxicated to consent and that drug use left her in a state of "vague consciousness."