'A movement for true change': Cornell University professor speaks out

A Cornell University professor has said she hopes that conversations after an alleged campus gang rape could mark the start of "a movement for true change".

Ariana Kim, an associate professor at the university, made the comments as members of Cornell's Faculty Senate, a governing body composed of professors and other academic staff, are due to debate whether they have confidence in the Cornell leadership.

She told The World with Yalda Hakim that comments by the president of the university and some of his upper administration colleagues were "a good step in the right direction".

However, she said she was "sceptical" that such moves were coming shortly before a confidence debate.

The resolution is nonbinding and would not force Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff or other university leaders from office, but co-sponsors said they hoped it would prompt Cornell's trustees and senior administrators to act.

The university's president has acknowledged he never followed up on a student's report of being gang raped at a fraternity house in 2024.

In an interview with The New York Times published on Tuesday, a day before Cornell's Faculty Senate began debating the no confidence resolution, Mr Kotlikoff acknowledged that he did not know until recently that the woman had dropped out of Cornell or that students had been expelled or suspended over the alleged incident.

Speaking about the alleged sexual assault, Ms Kim said: "Unfortunately, this case is not unique. And unfortunately, so many of our experiences can be echoed by so many people."

On Tuesday, in a letter to the campus community, Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff announced a suspension of parties and other social events at interfraternity council houses for the rest of the 2026-27 academic year.

Under a new "zero tolerance" policy for violations, Mr Kotlikoff said any fraternity breaking the rule would face the immediate emergency suspension of a chapter.

Promising "systemic change on our campus", he said the university would "take all necessary steps to address the conditions that led to Jane Doe's experiences, and those of other survivors".

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Furthermore, New York State Police will take over investigating alleged campus sex crimes from university police, who have full investigative powers but are controlled by the university and not linked to a municipal force.

The moves follow growing outrage over how the college, located in Ithaca in New York State, handled allegations that a female student was sexually assaulted at a fraternity house in October 2024.

The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, brought a civil case in September against the university, seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity, the fraternity itself and her sorority over the alleged incident.

In her lawsuit, she alleges she was "plied with alcohol and drugs to the point of intoxication" by fraternity members, dubbed the "Cornell 7", leaving her unable to consent before she was sexually assaulted.

Lawyers for the men have said their clients deny sexually assaulting or coercing her with drugs.

(c) Sky News 2026: 'A movement for true change': Cornell University professor speaks out