Rape culture on college campuses
The scary side of silence
Photo Courtesy of sach1tb- Wikimedia Commons
You might have heard recently about the “Cornell 7,” named by the Cornell Daily Sun: Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar. All are implicated in a lawsuit filed by a former Cornell University student—identified as Jane Doe—which asserts that on Oct. 19, 2024, the seven men gang raped her in their fraternity (Chi Phi) house, as reported by CNN.
According to ABC News, “Prosecutors in central New York say they are reopening the investigation…after [the] civil lawsuit filed earlier this month sparked outrage about the incident.” The outrage has certainly been apparent in online spaces, largely incited by the University’s response to the incident, which has been assessed as minimal and entirely unsatisfactory. As reported by the New York Times, the lawsuit states that the accused men “‘were afforded the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays to Cornell.’ Cornell does not deny that essays—which it calls reflection papers—were part of the punishment that the panel decided on for some of the men. But it stated Monday that it was not the only consequence for any of them.” Still, Cornell has not released information about how exactly the men were otherwise punished, citing federal regulations surrounding student privacy.
Many celebrities have taken advantage of their platforms to highlight the incident. Florence Pugh took to Instagram to express her frustrations, remarking, “I’m no longer tired—I’m enraged by schools protecting boys in fear of their futures being wrecked. What about the life that those girls then have to endure, with the knowledge that his reputation is more precious than her truth?” Josh Gad also shared his thoughts, commenting, “The ‘promising’ young and ‘bright’ Cornell boys lost the right to a future when they stole a future from a helpless young woman…At this point, it doesn’t seem to matter if a woman accuses a President, a Supreme Court justice, a private university student, or an athlete…And we are sending a profoundly disturbing message with our inability to hold anyone accountable.” Hudson Williams posted images of the seven men on his story with the caption, “arrest them. f*** them and f*** cornell too.”
As a young woman on a college campus—and a campus, like most, with a not-so-distant history of brushing sexual assault allegations under the rug—I can’t honestly say the case was shocking to read about. It is both deeply familiar and profoundly upsetting. I am horrified by the detailed and disturbing allegations; I am saddened for the woman who is struggling with the trauma of intense violation. I am grappling with feelings of hopelessness as I read about another institution that has left victims of assault sidelined and perpetrators of rape absolved.
What hurts the most, I think, is looking at the messages sent in the “Chi Phi Activities” Snapchat, including, “Free p**** in alum pu,” to which someone responds, “This is crazy work.” The fraternity brothers express their love for Chi Phi. Matthew Ingallis says, “Like you can walk in and whip it out,” to which someone simply responds, “Type.”
There were over fifty men in the group chat at the time. Not one of them appears to have said anything. Not one of them asked a single question beyond, “Shop still open?”
Silence and inaction have devastating consequences. They enable horrific crimes and violations of dignity and autonomy. Silence in this case on the part of every non-participating man in that group chat feels criminal.
The institutional mishandling of these cases tells survivors that the silence is normal and they should not bother coming forward. As Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said to a crowd in Ithaca on Sunday, relayed by the Cornell Daily Sun, “This is a culture, this is norms, these are practices. What we must do is understand that we cannot protect those spaces anymore.”