Do the Right Thing

 I’ve been reading about the allegations involving a former Cornell student and members of a fraternity. The events she describes took place in 2024. I’m hearing about them now because she filed a lawsuit this month, and the district attorney has reopened the criminal investigation.

According to her lawsuit, she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple men over several hours. A message in a fraternity group chat allegedly invited others to come upstairs, referring to her in language so degrading I cannot bring myself to repeat it.

She was 20 years old. I keep thinking about how many people might have had a chance to help her. Did anyone who saw that message ask whether she was safe? Did anyone check on her, tell the others to stop, or call for help?

I am also troubled by what I’ve read about the consequences. Her attorney says two of the accused students were expelled and others received lesser sanctions, including suspensions, workshops, and essays. Cornell says expulsions and suspensions were imposed and disputes the suggestion that an essay was anyone’s sole consequence. Right. 

No criminal charges were brought at the time. Now the evidence will be reconsidered.

The allegations must be investigated fairly. The young woman deserves to be heard and treated with care. And we should all be willing to ask what happened when others may have known she was in danger.

The men accused in this case have mothers, sisters, girlfriends, grandmothers, and aunts. How would they feel if someone treated one of those women this way?

I keep wanting to call them boys, because I cannot reconcile the alleged cruelty with my idea of an ethical man. But they were old enough to know better. If the allegations are borne out, their actions must be brought to light and they must be held accountable. And anyone who knew a young woman might be in danger had a responsibility to speak up, step in, or call for help.

Do the right thing. That means refusing to take part in harm—and refusing to look away when someone else does.


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