New Delhi: An Ivy League campus, a gangrape allegation, protests, and a university now facing questions over whether it did enough. But data from Cornell University points to a bigger problem: even when students report sexual violence, very few cases end in serious disciplinary action.
More than 1,200 incidents involving students were reported to Cornell between 2018 and 2024, according to New York state data. Yet just seven people were expelled or dismissed, and 14 were suspended during those six years.
The data includes reports of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking involving students. It also includes some cases in which university employees were accused of assaulting or stalking students.
The figures have come under renewed scrutiny after a former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe in court records, sued the university, seven students and others. She alleged that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple students at a fraternity house in 2024.
Cornell has since hired former US Justice Department official Sally Q. Yates to review its handling of the case.
At Cornell, 21.4 per cent of reported incidents were referred to law enforcement, compared with 16.4 per cent across New York colleges. But at Cornell, only 4.2 per cent resulted in a finding that the accused was responsible, compared with 6.7 per cent statewide.
Expulsions or dismissals accounted for 0.6 per cent of Cornell cases, compared with 1.2 per cent statewide.
Cornell is not an outlier
Cornell’s disciplinary record is not unique. Across nearly 300 colleges in New York, more than 25,800 incidents of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking were reported between 2018 and 2024.
Only about 1 per cent resulted in students being expelled or university employees being dismissed. Another 2 per cent ended in suspension.
The low number of disciplinary outcomes does not necessarily mean reports were found to be false or that no action was taken. Survivors may withdraw from the process, reach informal resolutions, or leave college altogether.
Universities may also use measures such as no-contact orders or changes to housing and classes instead of suspension or expulsion.
“We’ve seen schools instead turn to methods like no-contact orders or removing the perpetrator from the survivor’s classes or from their dorm,” Zoey Scheinblum-Brewer, policy and grassroots coordinator at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, told the Washington Post. “Expulsions and suspensions tend to be the final thing that schools tend to turn to.”
Scheinblum-Brewer also told the Post that students who experience sexual violence may withdraw from disciplinary proceedings because of trauma, while others reach informal settlements with the accused.
“There are a lot of different points in the process in which schools can sort of get out of having to suspend or expel the respondents,” she said.
Also Read: Pressure mounting on Cornell administration, president over handling of alleged gang rape
Reported cases may be only a fraction
The cases that reach universities may represent only a fraction of sexual violence on campuses.
A 2019 survey of students at 33 US universities by the Association of American Universities found that more than one in four undergraduate women had experienced rape or another form of sexual assault since entering college.
At Cornell, 35 per cent of undergraduate women who responded to a 2025 survey said they had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact since joining the university. That was up from 20 percent in 2021 and 23 percent in 2023.
However, only 15 percent of students responded to the 2025 survey, compared with 36 percent in 2023.
Nationally, reported cases of rape, stalking, fondling, domestic violence and dating violence also increased between 2014 and 2024, even as full-time college enrolment fell slightly.
Why students may not report
“Sexual violence/assault is one of the most underreported crimes,” Sarah McMahon, director of the Center for Research on Ending Violence at Rutgers University, told the Washington Post.
She cited shame, fear of retaliation, concerns about not being believed, and the reluctance to recount traumatic experiences as some of the reasons people may not report sexual violence.
McMahon said increased reporting could partly reflect greater awareness and easier access to reporting mechanisms.
“Over the past 10-plus years there has been a lot of work to increase awareness and make reporting options more accessible, so it could be reflective of this progress,” she said.
Edited by Maryam Hassan