Former Cornell fraternity members, dragged into scandal, ask university to clear their names

A group of former Cornell students says online posts have wrongly tied them to an alleged sexual assault at a fraternity house in 2024. They are asking the university to state that they were not among the men accused.

A lawyer for the group, Ford, sent Cornell a letter on Oct. 3 requesting a public clarification for his clients and other Chi Phi alumni who had graduated before the alleged assault.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed in September by a woman identified as Jane Doe. She accuses Cornell, the fraternity and several men of pressuring her to take ketamine and sexually assaulting her. The suit says a message in a fraternity Snapchat group led to the assault.

Ford says his clients were not in that chat and were no longer Cornell students when the alleged incident occurred. He says a website listing people connected to the case named them as former Chi Phi members, after which they received online harassment and threats.

The university had not responded to CBS News’ request for comment at the time of publication. It remains unclear whether Cornell will issue the requested statement.