// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Cornell Jane Doe says embattled university head doubted her gang-rape allegation
Cornell's faculty debated the university's handling of sexual assault cases during a faculty senate meeting on Wednesday
A former Cornell student who alleges she was gang-raped at a fraternity house has said she felt "unsupported and disbelieved" by the university president.
Known anonymously as Jane Doe, she has written a letter accusing President Michael Kotlikoff of asking why she waited several weeks to report the incident.
The Ivy League institution in upstate New York says her account of the Cornell head's reaction is "incorrect".
She addressed her letter to campus faculty who will hold a rare vote this month on Kotlikoff's leadership. Doe filed her lawsuit last month alleging she was raped by several men in October 2024 at a Chi Phi fraternity party.
All seven former fraternity members accused by Doe have denied wrongdoing when contacted by the BBC's US partner CBS. None has been charged with a crime.
Doe reported the alleged assault to campus police, and the local prosecutor declined to bring charges at the time, but the case has since reopened.
Responding to Doe's initial allegation, Cornell said it had opened an internal investigation, as well as a civil rights inquiry.
What we know about Cornell University frat house rape investigation
In a two-page letter dated 14 October and obtained by the BBC, Doe told the faculty senate that after she reported the alleged rape, she received "a second-hand account" of Kotlikoff's reaction and that his "initial response" was "along the lines of, 'Why did she wait so long to report it?'"