Cornell accuser was 'failed' by university health care system, lawyer says

A woman who has accused several men of raping her at Cornell University in 2024 was failed by the school's health system, her lawyer has said.

Jane Doe, as she is known in court filings, said she told a university doctor two days after the alleged assault that she had contracted a urinary tract infection "in a traumatic way" but that they "didn't really follow up", according to the New York Times.

Her lawyer Thomas Giuffra said in a statement provided to the BBC that the doctor visit marked "yet another failure by Cornell".

Cornell said it did not have any additional information to share in response to an inquiry from the BBC about the health visit.

After Doe was seen by the university doctor, she said she was then told to go to therapy, documents from the institution's own investigation show.

"Ms Doe's disclosure warranted further inquiry, including a rape kit and consultation of medical professionals trained to deal with rape cases and a physical exam to document her injuries," Giuffra said in a statement to the BBC.

"Inexplicably, all the medical professional did was to advise Ms Doe to 'speak with somebody'."

The woman filed a civil lawsuit against the Ivy League university in September, alleging she was drugged and raped by seven men at a fraternity house at the university in 2024.

She also alleged that Cornell failed to protect her or adequately punish the men involved.

The case was referred to Tompkins County District Attorney's Office, the top prosecutor in the county, back in 2024.

District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said his office did not bring charges at the time because he had only seen a statement from Doe implying the incident was consensual and that she had not been drugged.

This week, Houten's office announced it would be re-opening the case - less than two weeks after Doe filed her civil lawsuit.

Cornell has said it provided evidence to the district attorney's office from its own investigation, including a Snapchat group chat in which fraternity members discussed a "free" sexual encounter with Doe on the night of the alleged assault.

Giuffra accused the district attorney of changing "his story so many times, I can't keep up with it" in his latest statement.

"The pattern I am seeing is that whenever evidence comes out supporting prosecution, he claims he never saw it," Giuffra said. "His defensiveness and attempt to save face has not been impressive."

Van Houten told the BBC that he had received a six-page statement from Jane Doe and the Snapchat messages from campus police.

But there was also a 120-page transcript from a recording of an interview by a Title IX investigator with Doe, with a victim's advocate, a counsellor and one of Doe's attorneys participating by phone, which Van Houten said he had not seen in full at the time.

"The full transcript – which I have now obtained – confirms the contents of Jane Doe's sworn statement," he said. "I have no intention of letting Mr Giuffra's unfair criticism distract my office from getting to the truth."

The documents from the university's Title IX review provide the most detailed account yet into the three weeks after Doe was allegedly assaulted and made the decision to report to the university. Title IX is a federal civil rights law mandating that universities follow certain rules when investigating sexual assaults.

The morning after the alleged assault, when Doe returned to her sorority house, she told her two roommates she had done drugs and had sex with multiple men, but did not yet use the word "rape" or "assault", according to the roommates.

She appeared to be "in shock" and "not really understanding the gravity of what she was saying", a roommate said, according to the documents the New York Times obtained.

The review also included Doe's text exchanges with one of the men accused of assault, who apologised to her after the alleged rape.

"I just wanted to apologize for how things went down the other night," he wrote. He said he and other men accused of assault felt awful for being too intoxicated to "shut it down and kick people out before it got way out of hand".

Her roommate told the university that as time went on, Doe "kind of came to realise that it was something bad. And that she didn't really enjoy her time there".

On 3 November, Doe texted one of the men accused of assault and told him: "let's be clear that 90% of what happened that night was not consensual. i was given more key than i can remember," she said, using a shorthand for ketamine.

"I know that i told u i felt uncomfortable and i didn't know anyone in the room," the text messages included in the document read.

Later, at the Title IX interview, she said she felt "100 percent" confident that she was raped, remarks her attorney confirmed to the BBC.

Doe went to get a rape kit on 7 November, three weeks after the alleged assault took place, but no DNA evidence was recovered, her lawyer said.

Giuffra said that if she had received a rape kit in October when she went to see the university doctor, it is likely there would have been DNA evidence.

The lawyer said the messages and other interviews from the investigation show that "Ms Doe's internal processing went from denial, to shame and ultimately acceptance that she had been raped by people that she thought were her friends".

"Her reactions were a textbook reaction to trauma," he added.

At the sprawling university tucked away in upstate New York, the tension on campus is palpable.

The BBC spoke to students and a faculty member at Cornell, all of whom asked to remain anonymous. Many others were reluctant and very uncomfortable to speak about the incident.

One female student, who is now a senior and was on campus in 2024, recalled how hard it was living there at the time, particularly as rumours began spreading about Doe.

Now, two years later, she told the BBC how she and her friends felt "overwhelmed" and "disappointed", comparing the atmosphere on campus to a "dark cloud". Cornell, she believes, greatly mishandled the situation.

A faculty member also called the mood "dismal". Staff were not trained therapists so it was hard to know how to navigate a moment like this, she said, and many of her colleagues felt at a loss for words.

"I just don't understand."

If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide.

A list of UK organisations that can help is available here.