Bill Maher Calls for abolition of frats amid Cornell 7 saga

‘Any place that’s all male, no girls allowed, just doesn’t function without depravity,’ Maher said

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TV host Bill Maher has called for the abolition of fraternity houses following the Cornell Seven case.

​Speaking about the case on Friday’s episode of his show Real Time, Maher declared: “Any place that’s all male, no girls allowed, just doesn’t function without depravity. Just ask the Catholic Church. Ask the Taliban.”

​The comedian, who is a Cornell alumnus, continued by slamming the very concept of fraternity houses themselves, suggesting that they worsen existing bad behaviors.

​“Everything that’s inherently bad about men gets worse if you put them in a fraternity,” he suggested. “The drinking gets worse, the cruelty, the treatment of women, the tribalism, the peer pressure, one-upmanship, conformity, segregation, nepotism, bullying, elitism, and just general a**holery… boat shoes, for example.”

​Doe filed her lawsuit on September 16, 2026. She reported the incident to Cornell University Police back in November 2024, around three weeks after the alleged incident took place.

​Matthew Van Houten, the Tompkins County District Attorney, says that Doe’s 2024 statement did not allege that she was drugged or gang raped, instead suggesting that her drug use and sexual conduct were consensual.

​The case has continued to become an international talking point, sparking discussions around the existence of fraternities - with Maher being just one of those to call for their abolition.

​“Human nature is bad, and the best we can do is create institutions that don’t make it easy to be worse,” he said on the show. “And a great place to start would be getting rid of Greek life.”

​Maher went on to show a series of fraternity mission statements that use the word “gentlemen,” before suggesting that the alleged behavior in the Cornell Seven case does not live up to the meaning of that word.

Maher added, “No one was there… knows what happened, but I do know what a gentleman is - a gentleman, gentleman, is someone who in that situation doesn’t exploit the woman; he saves her.”