Cornell knew of drug arrest, overdose at Chi Phi frat before alleged gang rape: records
Cornell University documented significant drug activity at the Chi Phi fraternity house before a student was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted there — with campus cops making a drug bust just hours before the reported gang rape, and responding to a ketamine overdose a day before, records show.Cornell University Police responded to Chi Phi at about 1:05 a.m.on Oct.
19, 2024, and made a drug-related arrest during the roughly 40-minute response, referring an individual to the school’s Office of Student Conduct, according to the department’s Daily Crime Log.A newly released Cornell Title IX hearing decision also documented an overdose at Chi Phi.“Ketamine was a substance used by multiple individuals in the Chi Phi house at the time, including [redacted] who had overdosed on or about Oct.18, 2024,” the university hearing document states, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.The revelations raise fresh questions about why Chi Phi was not suspended on the days the drug bust and OD happened — and before a woman claims she was assaulted there.Hours after the drug bust, the former Cornell student identified in court papers as Jane Doe says she arrived at the house around 11 p.m.
and was later pressured into taking drugs before being sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members into the early morning hours of Oct.20.
Her lawsuit alleges Cornell “knew or should have known” that Chi Phi had a history of drug use, specifically ketamine, and claims that police responded to a drug-related incident at the house about a week before the alleged assault.Cornell’s current Sorority and Fraternity Life policy prohibits illegal drugs at chapter houses and says a chapter may be immediately placed on interim suspension when violations pose health and safety risks.Chi Phi was ultimately suspended on Nov.8, 2024, when Doe reported the alleged assault to campus police.The Chi Phi frat house was known at the Ithaca Ivy League as the “rugby house,” and players ...