ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) - A former high-ranking Department of Justice official will look at how Cornell handles sexual misconduct complaints, university trustees announced Tuesday as they tried to address an outpouring of anger over allegations of a 2024 gang rape at a fraternity house. Sally Yates, who was a deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, will spearhead the review, the trustees said. The assessment is to include how the Ivy League university investigates reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment, how the disciplinary process works, campus police responses and more.  It is imperative that Cornell be willing to examine itself with the same rigor we expect of others,  trustee Chair Anne Meinig Smalling said in a statement. The announcement comes after days of outrage and a large protest over Cornell's response to a complaint from a woman known publicly only as Jane Doe. She told campus police in November 2024 that, a few weeks earlier, she had been sexually assaulted by multiple Chi Phi fraternity brothers after being pressured into drinking and taking drugs. No criminal charges have been filed. The Chi Phi chapter at Cornell was shut down, and the Ivy League university has said it expelled some students and suspended others. Yates will look at how the woman's complaint was addressed and at the oversight of fraternities, sororities and other campus groups, Cornell said. The woman sued the university, seven former students, the fraternity and others last month. Lawyers for two of the former students denied they participated in a sexual assault. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the other men or their representatives have been unsuccessful. Court records show that during an investigation that Cornell conducted under the federal Title IX law, some of the accused students contended that the sexual activity was consensual. The lawsuit put a new, nationwide spotlight on the allegations and how the campus police, university and local prosecutor had reacted. New York Attorney General Letitia James is now conducting a criminal investigation and may soon name outside law
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