Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., painted a far more sweeping picture of a Cornell University sexual assault case than what's alleged in the underlying civil complaint, while also making claims the university disputes.Speaking during a town hall hosted by More Perfect University on Sunday in Ithaca, New York, Ocasio-Cortez addressed allegations outlined in a civil complaint filed last month by a former Cornell student identified as Jane Doe, who alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members in October 2024."Seven men drugged and gang raped a 20-year-old woman," Ocasio-Cortez said."They lured her in to a fraternity house," she continued.
"They drugged her with ketamine.They then posted to a group chat that she was incapacitated, and seven men took turns gang raping her for seven hours."CONVICTED RAPIST WHO PREYED ON WOMEN AT AMERICA'S TOP PARTY SCHOOL FACES RECKONING AFTER COURTHOUSE DASHRep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., arrives ahead of the 25th anniversary commemoration ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York on Friday, Sept.11, 2026.
(Bloomberg via Getty Images)"Their fraternity knew.This was reported to Cornell University.
And after looking into this matter, they expelled two of them and made the rest write essays as their form of punishment," Ocasio-Cortez said."I want to be clear that the culture of rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia is protected in elite institutions across the United States and including Cornell University in this instance.
It has got to stop."Cornell has disputed Ocasio-Cortez's characterization of the disciplinary action, saying expulsions and suspensions were issued and that no respondent was required to write an essay as the sole consequence.The civil complaint alleges that several students who received temporary suspensions were given an opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to the university.Ocasio-Cortez's comments come as a civil lawsuit filed ...