Washington Examiner columnist Salena Zito said the allegations of gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity house could be the incident needed to course-correct the institution.
“Well, I think it always takes something very shocking to put something back on its track, and even then, it’s a slow slog to get back just to the middle, right?” Zito said Monday on The Hugh Hewitt Show. “Just to a place of neutrality, but I think now Cornell is forced to become that because of just the whole way that this whole thing has been handled.”
A woman under the pseudonym Jane Doe filed a lawsuit accusing seven former members of Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity of drugging and sexually assaulting her in October 2024 at a fraternity house. No charges were filed at the time.
Doe’s court filing included a Snapchat image showing one of the fraternity members allegedly encouraging others to join.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) issued an executive order transferring the criminal investigation to state Attorney General Letitia James after Matthew Van Houten, the district attorney in Tompkins County, New York, reopened the case.
“What Cornell had become ahead of this incident happening is just a perfect example of the way that academia has gotten off the rails,” Zito said.
CORNELL FACULTY PLAN NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE TO INCREASE PRESSURE ON PRESIDENT FOR HANDLING OF RAPE CASE
Faculty at Cornell filed a no-confidence resolution on Monday in response to the handling of the initial case. Zito said Cornell was straying from the purpose of higher education even before this incident came to light.
“[Cornell] has become completely a political wing of a party as opposed to an institution of higher learning where you’re supposed to be challenged on your thoughts and you’re supposed to be challenged on ideas on both sides,” Zito said. “And instead, it’s indoctrinating young people.”