Editor’s note: This article contains mentions of sexual violence.
No one should be shocked by the Cornell Seven case. If you are, you simply haven’t been paying enough attention.
On Sept. 18, The Cornell Sun, Cornell University’s independent student paper, published “Cornell, Chi Phi Sued by Victim of Alleged Gang Rape, Drugging in 2024,” detailing “Jane Doe,” a former student’s alleged gang rape and horrific sexual assault. The story exploded, sparking new discussion around campus sexual assault, Greek Life, student safety and violence against women.
Over the past two weeks, media outlets and social media platforms have been flooded with content about the case. Celebrities and public figures, including Florence Pugh, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hudson Williams, have condemned Cornell and the assailants, while other social media users have shared their outrage. Thousands of users have posted their support for Jane Doe, as the student has been named.
On Oct. 6, the New York Post uploaded a video about the case, saying it “has shocked the public and spurred an outcry.” On Oct. 1, the Huffington Post published a story called “We’re Cornell Grads and Trauma Experts. We’re Shocked, But Not Surprised By What’s Happening At Our Alma Mater.”
In today’s world, we shouldn’t be shocked. We should be infuriated, scared and heartbroken. Horrified? Yes. Disgusted by what men can be capable of? Absolutely. But no one should be shocked.
In 2019, 26% of undergraduate women reported that they’d experienced rape or some form of sexual assault in college. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s annual Campus Safety and Security analysis, 19,865 Violence Against Women Act offenses were reported in 2024 throughout 5,586 institutions and 10,142 campuses. However, less than 5% of sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement, according to a 2020 study.
The American Sociological Review published the “Male Sex Aggression on a University Campus,” the first report on campus sexual assault, in 1957. Out of 291 women surveyed, 55.7% reported some form of “erotic intimacy” offense, 20.9% reported “forceful attempts at intercourse” and 6.2% had experienced “aggressively forceful attempts at sex intercourse in the course of which menacing threats or coercive infliction of physical pain were employed.”
Violence towards women on college campuses has been well documented and even reported on for multiple decades. Media coverage is not new, and high-profile cases circulate frequently.
Brock Turner, an Olympic hopeful swimmer, raped Chanel Miller at Stanford University in 2015. He was sentenced to six months in prison but served only three months due to purported “good behavior.”
Mary R. Koss, a psychology professor at Kent State University, and Ms. Magazine surveyed more than 6,100 undergraduate students in 1985. The results were consistent with the trends we see today: 27.7% of college women reported they had been victims of rape or attempted rape.
The survey also revealed a new statistic: 7.7% of college men had perpetrated rape or attempted rape.
Since the 1970s, the federal legislature has passed multiple laws and acts to combat sexual violence, including Title IX, the Clery Act, the Violence Against Women Act and the Campus SAVE Act. Yet college women are still not safe. Legislation and universities continue to fail women and other victims of sexual assault.
Between 2015 and 2022, a study conducted by Amelie Pedneault, an associate professor of criminology at Washington State University, found that women ages 18 to 24 enrolled in college have a 74% higher six-month risk of experiencing sexual violence than women not enrolled in a university.
While visiting my best friend over Block Break, my Uber driver gave me some final advice for my weekend as we neared my friend’s apartment: Don’t leave your friend, cover your drink and don’t go to the bathroom alone.
It’s similar advice that’s been drilled into me since I was a teenager, part of a long list of suggestions meant to keep women safe.
Nothing good happens after midnight. Don’t walk home. Don’t take an Uber or Lyft home. Don’t drink too much. Don’t wear clothes that show too much skin. Don’t let your friends drink too much. Watch your drinks. Never accept a drink from a stranger. Share your location with people you trust. Don’t leave alone. Don’t let your friends leave alone. Go to the bathroom with other girls. Walk in a well-lit area. Text someone when you get home. Be safe.
But are men ever told not to rape women? Not to drug girls or spike their drinks? Are they ever held accountable for their actions?
You learn to be vigilant. You find people you can trust. You share your location with your friends. You look over your shoulder on your walk home. You can do everything right.
But the threat of sexual assault never fully goes away.
The media cycle is repetitive. Every few months or years, a college sexual assault case becomes a media phenomenon, sparking outrage and calls to action. Attention slowly dwindles, and then it happens again. Cornell, Florida State, Kent State, Stanford, University of Chicago, Colorado College. The list goes on.
So if you were “shocked” by the Cornell Seven, ask yourself why. Did you decide it simply wouldn’t impact you? Have you been paying attention to headlines? Do you read the news?
Or are you just lucky enough to never have had to worry about your safety on a night out?