Jane Doe says she felt 'unsupported and disbelieved' by Cornell president
The remark came in a letter she sent regarding her gang rape allegations.
The former Cornell University student who alleged she was gang raped in 2024 at a campus fraternity house said she felt "unsupported and disbelieved" by the school's president, Michael Kotlikoff, according to a letter she sent earlier this month to the faculty senate.
In her letter, the student, known as Jane Doe, said she wanted to share a "second-hand account" before the faculty senate introduced a resolution of no confidence in Kotlikoff and the university administration.
The letter, obtained by ABC News after it was first obtained by The New York Times, described a conversation Kotlikoff had with the president of Jane Doe's sorority shortly after Jane Doe reported the alleged assault to campus police.
"President Kotlikoff's initial response was along the lines of, 'Why did she wait so long to report it?'" Jane Doe's letter said, explaining that her sorority sister "interpreted his question as an expression of doubt in the veracity of my story."
The alleged hourslong assault occurred over the night of Oct. 19 into the morning of Oct. 20, 2024. Jane Doe reported to campus police on Nov. 8, 2024, that she had been raped by a group of men at the Chi Phi fraternity house.
"When the then-Tri Delta President relayed this conversation to me, I felt unsupported and disbelieved by President Kotlikoff," Jane Doe wrote in her letter. "It diminished my confidence in the administration's ability to approach my experience with the understanding, sensitivity, and fairness I had hoped for and expected from what had been my dream school."
A spokesperson for Cornell University disputed how the letter characterized Kotlikoff's remark.
"The second-hand account of the question asked by President Kotlikoff in a January 2025 meeting in the letter is incorrect, based on a documented first-hand account," the spokesperson said in a statement provided to ABC News. "The question 'why did it take so long for the assault to be reported' was directed at bystanders who did not use Cornell's anonymous tip line, despite ongoing social media activity about the incident in October 2024. He was not questioning Jane Doe's reporting."
In her letter, Jane Doe, who is now 22 and who dropped out of Cornell, said she wanted to share the information for awareness. She did not offer an opinion on how the faculty senate should vote on the resolution of no confidence.
"It is important to me that the Faculty Senate be made aware of this letter so that its members can make an informed choice about how they wish to consider or act upon the information it contains," Jane Doe wrote.
She has filed a civil suit against the men and the university alleging that she had been drugged and raped. All seven fraternity brothers named in the suit have denied wrongdoing and no criminal charges have been filed in the case.
On Tuesday, a former president of the Chi Phi fraternity was dropped from Jane Doe's civil suit after he was mistakenly identified as the chapter president at the time of the alleged attack.
County authorizes independent review of DA’s handling of sexual assault cases
In a related development, an independent investigator will review the Tompkins County District Attorney's handling of sexual assault cases, following the DA's decision not to bring charges in the Jane Doe case.
By a vote of 14-2, the Tompkins County Legislature on Tuesday approved a resolution authorizing an "independent comprehensive review" of the prosecutor's office and calling for policy changes to prevent a similar situation, such as requiring prosecutors meet with the victim before reaching a charging decision and full review of available evidence.
"I'm introducing this resolution because I believe there were serious failures in the district attorney's office's handling of the Jane Doe case, and those failures need to be acknowledged, examined, and corrected," legislator Irene Weiser said during Tuesday's meeting.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten spoke during the meeting and said he would cooperate with the review.
"I am 100% in favor of transparency and absolutely willing to cooperate with whatever it's called, whether it's an audit or review," he said. "The point is not about defending anything. It's is there some way that we can do better that some independent body will tell us that we can do?" he said. " And in that sense, I'm definitely in favor of it, and we'll cooperate with it. I don't know what it looks like, but absolutely, I'm in favor of that. Because the point is to do the best job that we can, and if the evidence-based practices do evolve, then which they do, then that's something that we have an obligation to pursue."
Van Houten previously defended his handling of the case, arguing the allegations at the time -- which he claimed differed from the claims in Jane Doe's lawsuit this year -- did not support a criminal prosecution.
"Jane Doe's sworn statement in November of 2024 did not allege that she was drugged against her will or gang raped. On the contrary, Jane Doe's statement described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious, and consensual," he wrote in a statement last month.
ABC News has reached out to Van Houten for comment.
After Jane Doe filed her civil suit alleging she was raped and drugged by multiple men at the fraternity, Van Houten reopened the case; however, Governor Kathy Hochul appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James to serve as a special prosecutor in the matter after losing confidence in Van Houten.
Cornell is also conducting an internal probe of its response to the allegations.
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