Jane Doe was left terrified after death threats and a swatting incident, her lawyer said, as Cornell University faces fresh scrutiny over how it handled the rape allegations tied to her case. The episode adds a direct safety threat to a campus fight already centered on the administration’s response.
Her lawyer’s account comes as Cornell’s faculty senate prepares a vote of no confidence on the administration’s leadership. That vote is tied to claims that the school mishandled the allegations after Doe made a report to campus police.
Michael Kotlikoff office march
Thousands of students and faculty members marched on the office of Michael Kotlikoff on Monday, chanting “Resign!” Graffiti on his office building the night before read, “At Cornell, rapists are protected, protesters are expelled,” according to the article.
The graffiti referred to students who were suspended for protesting Israel’s war on Gaza. The march came after a national story involving an alleged gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house at Cornell University in October 2024, which helped drive the anger now aimed at the administration.
Cornell and Donald Trump settlement
Cornell is also under criticism over its $60 million settlement with Donald Trump’s administration, announced in November 2025. The agreement included handing over data on race in admissions and imposing anti-DEI materials provided by the White House on faculty and staff.
The American Association of University Professors said the agreement would “threaten some of the most vulnerable students on campus and invite ongoing federal government supervision to reduce the diversity of Cornell’s student body.” In July, the group published a report comparing the administration’s war on DEI to the Red Scare of the 1950s and called on university leadership to resist efforts to destroy racial diversity and gender equity on campus.
The immediate question for Cornell is no longer only how it handled Jane Doe’s report, but whether the leadership can keep its own faculty senate from moving against it. A no-confidence vote would give that dispute a formal test inside the university’s governing structure.
