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BY THE NUMBERS

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Parents and Guidance Counselors,

This is a special edition. In the regular edition I set aside the Cornell case because it deserves more than a paragraph. Here is the full treatment: what is alleged and what is not yet established, what colleges owe their students, where individual responsibility begins, whether fraternities and sororities should exist on campus, how common sexual misconduct really is, what prevention measurably works, and how to judge and improve a campus.

A few ground rules. Everything about the case is an allegation until a court or a final process says otherwise. The plaintiff is identified only by the pseudonym in her court filings, and I do not name the men she is suing. Two of them, through lawyers, deny any sexual assault. No criminal charges had been announced as of this writing. Where a fact comes from one outlet, the story says so, and where the sources disagree, I tell you.

On the statistics: I used as many hard numbers as the sources support, and I flag their limits. Most campus data come from surveys with low response rates, and police-report counts understate what surveys find. If you or someone you love needs help, the resources are at the end of Topic 8. — N.H.

— Dr. Nathan Hurwitz

College Admissions Consultant · Hurwitz Consulting · (203) 613-9262

THIS EDITION’S COVERAGE

What Happened at Cornell — and What Is Actually Established

A civil lawsuit, a reopened criminal inquiry, an outside review, and a great deal that no court has yet decided.

According to a civil lawsuit filed Sept. 14, 2026, a former Cornell student identified in court papers as Jane Doe alleges that seven men at the Chi Phi fraternity house sexually assaulted her in the early hours of Oct. 20, 2024, after she was coerced into drinking and taking drugs. The suit names Cornell, the Chi Phi fraternity, seven student defendants, and others, and seeks compensatory and punitive damages. None of this has been proven in court. Lawyers for two of the men deny any sexual assault, and some men told Cornell’s 2024 hearing that the activity was consensual or that they were not involved.

She reported to Cornell police in November 2024 and to Title IX investigators and the campus health clinic. Cornell says a months-long Title IX investigation ended in a panel hearing that produced “a range of sanctions, including expulsions and suspensions,” and that the Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus. It has not said how many students were disciplined, citing federal student-privacy law. The lawsuit alleges that some respondents were told they could “mitigate” their conduct by writing essays; Cornell calls that characterization false. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declined to bring charges in 2024.

After the lawsuit, the district attorney said he would reopen the case. Gov. Kathy Hochul then appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor, saying she had “lost faith” in the local office’s ability to oversee it. Cornell’s trustees hired former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates for an outside review, and students protested on campus Oct. 5. The plaintiff’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, says she and other women mistaken for her have received death threats. As of Oct. 9, no charges had been announced.

What Does a College Owe a Student Who Reports an Assault?

Federal law, New York’s Enough Is Enough statute, and the questions the Cornell case now puts to every campus.

Three legal layers govern most colleges. Title IX requires schools that receive federal funds to respond to sex-based harassment and assault (reports say the Education Department has returned to the 2020 Title IX rules). The Clery Act requires crime statistics, timely warnings, and published policies; the fine was reported in 2025 at $71,545. In New York, the 2015 “Enough Is Enough” law adds an affirmative-consent standard, amnesty for students who report despite their own alcohol or drug use, no-contact orders, an advisor of choice, at least one level of appeal, and campus climate surveys at least every other year.

The Cornell dispute is less about whether those processes existed than whether their outcomes and communication matched what they promised. The lawsuit alleges lenient sanctions; Cornell calls that “false” and says its panel of trained faculty and staff heard days of evidence from both sides. Giuffra says his client was “misled” into believing the criminal investigation was continuing when it had effectively ended, and that a six-page police summary omitted key details. The district attorney says he reviewed that summary, saw no crime, and has since said the civil allegations are “dramatically different” from her sworn 2024 statement. A court will have to sort out those competing accounts.

Cornell’s response so far: trustees commissioned Yates to examine how the university investigates reports, its disciplinary process, campus police responses, oversight of fraternities, sororities and other groups, and the handling of this complaint, with no deadline announced. Kotlikoff promised more transparency and stronger prevention, education, and substance-use resources. Trustee Chair Anne Meinig Smalling said Cornell must “examine itself with the same rigor we expect of others.” Whether the review is published in full is the test parents should watch.

Who Is Responsible? Individuals, Groups, Bystanders, and a Gap in New York Law

Three separate systems judge conduct by three separate standards, and New York’s rape statute is under pressure.

Kotlikoff put the principle plainly: “being part of a group can never diminish individual responsibility.” In practice, individuals face up to three separate proceedings: a criminal case (the state must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; none is pending yet), a civil suit (the plaintiff seeks damages; this one was filed Sept. 14), and a campus process under the school’s code (sanctions up to expulsion). A result in one does not dictate the others, and every named person keeps the presumption of innocence. One defendant has filed a petition seeking AG James’s removal, arguing bias; her office declined to comment.

The legal hinge in New York is intoxication. Under Penal Law 130.30, a person is “incapacitated” when drugged without knowledge, but not necessarily when they chose to drink or use drugs and became unable to consent. AP reports 19 states take that approach. Hochul said, “Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape. Period.” A bill closing the gap has passed the state Senate at least four times since 2019 but has never received an Assembly vote. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg supports it; the state defense lawyers’ association says current law already works and the proposal is too vague. Minnesota (2021), Michigan (2023), and Texas (2025) have changed their laws.

Responsibility is wider than the accused. The lawsuit alleges that one man messaged others inviting them to take part; her lawyer says a vulgar group-chat message was left out of a police summary. Bystanders who see a person being isolated or pushed toward a bedroom can intervene or call for help. And New York’s amnesty rule means a student who reports need not fear an alcohol-policy charge. What responsibility never does is shift to the person who was drinking. Harassing or threatening a complainant is its own harm, and in some cases a crime.

Should Fraternities and Sororities Be Banned? The Strongest Case on Each Side

Cornell’s president has promised “a serious look.” Here is what the data and the debate show.

The data. In Cornell’s 2019 survey, 22.6% of undergraduate women said a fraternity house was the setting of their most serious incident; in 2025, 20% of reported incidents occurred in chapter houses or annexes and 11% in off-campus housing informally tied to clubs. National studies are older and limited: a 2007 NASPA Journal study found fraternity members three times as likely as non-members to commit rape; a 2009 study found 86% of fraternity-house residents binge-drank versus 45% of other men; and a 2009 sorority-focused study of 779 students found more than a third of reported rapes happened in fraternity houses. Bloomberg counted more than 60 fraternity-related deaths since 2005 (as reported in 2015). These are associations, drawn from specific samples, not proof that Greek life causes assault.

The case for bans. Suspensions signal that dangerous behavior is unacceptable, said West Virginia’s dean of students. Alfred University concluded its Greek system wasn’t worth saving and reported fewer police calls and substance violations after its 2002 ban, though it couldn’t prove cause. Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, and Colby abolished fraternities and report little regret. Cornell itself suspended Greek activities in 2022 after alleged druggings, and the student-run Cornell Review says it had done so three times in four years. Then-President Martha Pollack said she questioned whether the benefits still outweighed the downsides.

The case against. The fraternity trade association calls bans “band-aids” and an infringement on association; bans can push parties into unregulated off-campus houses. Critics also argue that punishing a whole group for individuals’ conduct erodes the presumption of innocence, and that assault happens on campuses without Greek life. A 2007 Education Department-funded study found freshman men who completed a rape-prevention program before joining a fraternity were significantly less likely to commit sexually coercive acts. Kotlikoff acknowledged Greek groups “can provide students with friendship, belonging, mentorship,” and said Cornell will weigh alumni and student input along with accountability and transparency.

How Common Is Sexual Assault on College Campuses? The Best Numbers We Have

Survey data, police reports, and the large gap between them.

The most cited source is the Association of American Universities’ 2019 climate survey of 33 universities. As summarized by RAINN, 26% of undergraduate women and 7% of undergraduate men reported nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force or incapacitation since enrolling (13% of all undergraduates). For graduate and professional students, it was 1 in 10 women and 1 in 33 men. RAINN’s breakdown by year shows 16% of undergraduate women in their first year, the highest of any year. Harassment was common: 42% of students had experienced at least one sexually harassing behavior, 10% of students in relationships reported partner violence, and 6% reported stalking.

Reporting lags far behind. A Bureau of Justice Statistics analysis found only 20% of college women aged 18–24 who were raped or sexually assaulted reported to police, versus 32% of non-students; the top reasons were calling it a personal matter (26%), fear of reprisal (20%), and belief police wouldn’t help (19%). In the AAU survey, 66% of students believed their school would take a report seriously, but only 45% of victimized students did; only 37% felt confident about where to get help. Cornell shows the gap: its Annual Security Report listed 23 on-campus rapes reported to police in 2024 (28 in 2023, 25 in 2022), while its 2025 survey found 35% of undergraduate women reported nonconsensual sexual contact since enrolling.

Who, when, and under what circumstances. In the data RAINN cites, about 60% of rapes reported involving victims aged 17–24 involved someone the victim knew. At Cornell in 2025, alcohol played a role in a majority of incidents: half involved a person conscious but incapacitated by alcohol or drugs, and the perpetrator had been drinking in 62% of cases. Research on Division I football game days found 28% more reported rapes of women aged 17–24. A caution: Cornell’s 2025 survey drew only a 15% response rate (versus 36% in 2023), and its authors say the figures should be read with greater caution than prior years.

What Works to Stop Campus Sexual Assault? What the Evidence Shows

Bystander programs have the best-studied results, with real caveats.

The strongest evidence so far is for bystander programs that train a campus or school community to notice and interrupt risky situations. In a cluster-randomized trial of the Green Dot program across 26 Kentucky high schools (about 89,707 student surveys), the rate of sexual-violence perpetration in intervention schools was 0.83 times that of controls in year 3 and 0.79 times in year 4, with similar patterns for victimization, harassment, stalking, and dating violence. The authors estimate 120 violent events were prevented in year 3 and 88 in year 4.

A college comparison (Coker et al., 2015) followed 7,111 first-year students at three public universities. At the Green Dot campus, unwanted-sex victimization was about 25% lower (adjusted rate ratio 0.75) and overall interpersonal-violence perpetration about 21% lower (0.79). But there was no significant difference in unwanted-sex perpetration, the study was observational rather than randomized, and the gap faded in 2013 as intensive training declined. The authors call it a promising strategy that needs more rigorous research.

Other evidence points the same way. A 2007 Education Department-funded study found that freshman men who completed a rape-prevention program before joining a fraternity were significantly less likely to commit sexually coercive acts. The Cornell Daily Sun reports a men’s program for fraternity members is under development; no results exist yet. Alcohol is a recurring factor in the data. New York’s amnesty rule removes a barrier to bystanders calling for help. The practical takeaway is that sustained, repeated programming with training for peer leaders appears to matter more than a one-time orientation session; ask any college how it is evaluated.

What Are the Safest College Campuses? Why “Safest College” Lists Mislead

Crime counts measure reporting as much as danger, so look at different evidence.

I will not hand you a ranked list, because no list built only on crime counts can be trusted. Clery numbers count what was reported and classified, not what occurred. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, responding to a list compiled from those numbers, notes that Clery data include minor matters (such as an RA asking an underage student to pour out alcohol), that survivors can seek help through Title IX offices regardless of when or where an incident happened, and that repeated incidents in an abusive relationship can generate multiple counts. The Cornell figures above show the other direction: 23 reported rapes in a year versus a survey in which 35% of undergraduate women reported nonconsensual contact.

So a very low number may mean a safe campus or one where students don’t report, and a higher number may mean students trust the system. The numbers alone can’t tell you which. Better evidence: (1) the school’s Annual Security Report, read for its policies as well as its tables; (2) climate-survey results, including response rates and trends; (3) how many students say they know where to get help and trust the school (AAU: 37% confident about where to get help; 66% trust, 45% among victims); (4) whether the school publishes where incidents occur; and (5) how transparent it is after an incident.

The risk is not evenly spread. Cornell’s 2025 data place 29% of incidents in residence halls, 20% in fraternity chapter houses, and 34% in off-campus housing, with the most serious exposure for first-year women in the first weeks of the year. The safest campus for your student is therefore the one whose environment you have vetted: housing options, party culture, Greek oversight, transportation at night, and responsiveness of staff when someone asks for help.

How to Make Your Campus Safer — and What To Do If Someone Is Assaulted

Practical steps for students, parents, counselors, and schools, plus an overview of rights for survivors and the accused.

Students and parents. Learn the New York-style standard even if your state differs: consent is a “knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision,” silence is not consent, and an incapacitated person cannot consent. Agree on a plan with friends: arrive together, leave together, watch each other’s drinks, and intervene when someone is being isolated. Know the amnesty policy at your school. If you are a Cornell family, watch for the community forums Kotlikoff promised. Ask your own school’s leaders for climate-survey results and a published response plan. And never repost names or speculate; the plaintiff has received death threats.

If an assault occurs. Get to a safe place and seek medical care even if you are unsure of injuries. A hospital can provide a sexual assault evidence kit (SANE exam). Marquette University’s guidance, based on Wisconsin law, lists a five-day window for collection (check your state’s rules), and advises: avoid showering or changing clothes, keep clothing in a paper bag, photograph injuries, write down what you remember, save texts and screenshots, and ask for urine testing if drugging is suspected. You may refuse any part of the exam, and (at Marquette, at least) talking to a Title IX coordinator is not a formal complaint. Confidential advocates are available; RAINN’s hotline is 800-656-HOPE (4673), 24/7.

Legal considerations (general information, not legal advice). Survivors can pursue campus, criminal, and civil options at the same time or choose none. Deadlines (statutes of limitations) differ by state and by option; New York, for example, extended the limit for second- and third-degree rape in 2019. Students accused of misconduct have rights too: in New York, an advisor of choice and at least one appeal. Both sides should consult an attorney early, avoid contacting each other if a no-contact order exists, and ask a lawyer before deleting any messages. Schools can help by publishing results, funding sustained prevention, and giving survivors a real choice among reporting routes.

GUIDANCE COUNSELOR CORNER

A Note for Those Who Advise Families

On advising students and families this month: Expect questions about Cornell, Greek life, and campus safety from parents who may be frightened. Anchor the conversation in what is alleged versus established, then shift to what the family can verify: climate surveys, annual security reports, and a school’s policies. Please steer students away from sharing names or rumors about anyone in the case.

On building college lists: Add safety and support questions to the fit criteria, next to cost and major. A school’s willingness to publish its climate survey and discuss prevention is a meaningful signal. Avoid recommending or eliminating schools on the basis of a ranking built on Clery counts.

On Greek life: Present the debate evenhandedly. Students may find friendship and mentorship in chapters, and some chapters have strong risk-management cultures. Encourage students to ask about chapter conduct records and where social events are held.

On students who disclose: Know your own reporting obligations, which vary by state and employer, and tell students at the start of a conversation what you can and cannot keep confidential. Have the number for a confidential advocate (RAINN: 800-656-HOPE) ready.

Forward freely with attribution to Higher Ed Insider and a link to the subscribe page. This edition is general information, not legal advice.

FOR FAMILIES

Your Action Guide — Special Edition

Dr. Hurwitz’s Analysis · Oct. 9, 2026

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