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Cornell Gang Rape Case Reveals Fraternity's 'Damage Control' Efforts
Confirmed
In Short: Jane Doe, a Cornell University student, reported being gang-raped by members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024.
Jane Doe, a Cornell University student, reported being gang-raped by members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024. According to ABC News, the fraternity brothers attempted 'damage control' to ensure Doe was not upset about the situation.
Doe's call to Matthew Ingalls, one of the accused, revealed her confusion and anger. 'The only way for me to heal is to know what happened,' she told Ingalls the day before reporting the incident to Cornell University Police.
ABC News reviewed text messages and phone calls that showed the fraternity's efforts to manage the situation. One fraternity member wrote in a group chat, 'F—-,' while the fraternity president said, 'Wait a bit for me and [Executive Board] to figure out what we’re doing cuz there are a couple of other things going on.'
Doe described the evening as starting casually but turning into a nightmare as she was plied with alcohol and drugs, leading to a sexual encounter with multiple men. She reported the incident as rape, triggering a response from the fraternity's leadership.
During Cornell's investigation, Ingalls claimed he was too intoxicated to consent and suggested Doe assaulted him. Doe's communications with Ingalls showed her frustration with her reputation being destroyed and her shame over the incident.
The fraternity's attempts to placate Doe were unsuccessful, and she reported the incident to the police. The Chi Phi chapter was suspended on November 8, 2024, the same day Doe filed her report.
The case has now become the subject of a major investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Doe filed a civil complaint alleging gang rape by Chi Phi fraternity members.
Cornell's internal investigation lasted from November 2024 to May 2025, and the university has announced an outside law firm will review its handling of the allegations and investigation.
What this adds
The fraternity's 'damage control' efforts included attempts to keep Doe from being upset about the situation, as described by students who spoke to campus authorities.
What's confirmed
- "The only way for me to heal is to know what happened," the woman, then a Cornell junior, told one of her alleged attackers, Matthew Ingalls, over the phone one day before she went to the Cornell University Police Department on Nov. 8, according to a recording of the call obtained by ABC News.
- The case is now the subject of a major investigation led by New York attorney general Letitia James.
What's still developing
- Separately, Cornell has announced an outside law firm would be tapped this week to review the university’s handling of the allegations and subsequent investigation. 'What y'all did would be classified as gang rape' In the days immediately following the incident, Jane Doe stayed in touch with some of the men she later accused of assaulting her – at first sharing concerns about her reputation and physical health.
- “I will also say this is f—--g RUINING my life temporarily. My reputation is destroyed and I’m utterly ashamed. I’m f—--g pissed cause this many people shouldn’t know and I feel like I know who some of the rats in the room were,” she wrote to Ingalls, who had invited her to the fraternity that night.
- ABC News has reviewed records from Cornell’s internal investigation — which began in November 2024 and lasted through May 2025 — as well as communications between the students at the center of the allegations that shed light on how Doe’s account of the incident evolved, as the men involved appeared to portray the story to seem more benign.
- To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A student allegedly drugged and raped at Cornell University was in contact with some of the fraternity brothers after she had reported them for assaulting her.
- However Mr Ingalls insisted that Jane Doe had said she was sober at the time, a claim she pushed back on.
- After he explained several people were in the room, the alleged victim shouted: ‘What y’all did would be classified as gang rape.’ Jane Doe would call out ‘the coverups these boys attempted’ at an internal Cornell investigative hearing held months later.
- The victim, referred to in court documents as Jane Doe, kept in touch with Matthew Ingalls, telling her alleged attacker her reputation was ‘destroyed’ and she was ‘utterly ashamed’ at events on October 19, 2024.
- Some of alleged attackers attempted a ‘damage control’ exercise in order to keep the victim happy and not ‘upset about the situation’, phone calls show.
- Cornell said it also investigated the allegations and the fraternity members received a range of punishments, including expulsions and suspensions.
- According to the complaint, one member sent a Snapchat message to a group of Chi Phi members saying there was “free p----,” in an apparent reference to the plaintiff.