Jordan Vallone: Campus safety starts with listening

Like many others, I was deeply unsettled by the news of the “Cornell 7.”

On Sept. 16, a woman identified only as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit in State Supreme Court against Cornell University, its chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity and seven men she accuses of drugging and gang-raping her in October 2024.

The Cornell Daily Sun, the university’s student newspaper, not only broke the story and published the names of those accused, but also brought the case into the national spotlight, quickly drawing widespread attention.

According to the lawsuit, the alleged assault was reported to campus police a few weeks after it happened. The Tompkins County district attorney’s office, whose jurisdiction includes Cornell, initially declined to bring charges against the accused. The university investigated a report of sexual violence, and some of the alleged perpetrators were reportedly assigned “reflection papers” as a form of “punishment.”

The lawsuit fueled a public outcry, with many people saying that the university didn’t take the allegations seriously or follow proper disciplinary procedures. Many have also scrutinized the actions of police and prosecutors, questioning whether evidentiary limitations or investigative shortcomings factored into the decision not to pursue charges.

Because of the courageous work of the Daily Sun’s student journalists, the criminal investigation was reopened.

The allegations against the Cornell 7 are deeply disturbing. As the case unfolds, they will remain under intense scrutiny, with the evidence examined and tested in court. Ultimately, the legal process will determine the outcome of Jane Doe’s claims, all of which have been denied by those accused.

I’m a graduate student at Stony Brook University, and a classmate of mine in a journalism class recently reported on students’ opinions of the case. At age 24, I feel a bit removed from the undergraduate bubble of campus life, but it was interesting to read their thoughts on safety.

What my classmate did expertly in her story was include data published under the Clery Act — a federal law that requires colleges and universities that receive federal student financial aid to disclose information about crimes that occur on or near their campuses, including homicides, sexual offenses, assaults and hate crime. Data is reported annually, and three-year crime trends are compiled in a security report.

While some information under the Clery Act may need to be specially requested through the Freedom of Information Act, many of the statistics are publicly available and searchable. It’s worth noting that a crime listed in a college’s report doesn’t mean that someone was arrested, charged or convicted — it’s simply an instance of an alleged crime.

Out of curiosity, I went looking for the numbers myself, downloading a spreadsheet that included crime reports from more than 10,000 postsecondary institutions across the country between 2022 and 2024. The statistics were eye-opening, and one thing became clear: Many people would be startled by the number of crimes reported on college campuses.

It would be unfair to draw conclusions about the allegations at this stage of the Cornell 7 case. Still, I share the concerns of critics who believe the case was mishandled from the outset. The fallout, nearly two years after the alleged assault, illustrates the gravity of sexual violence allegations and the consequences of failing to address them appropriately — especially on college campuses.

Across thousands of institutions, each with its own crime reports, it’s impossible to know how many cases were properly handled by campus authorities, law enforcement or the criminal justice system. And with that said, the Cornell case has left me wondering just how many other victims may share Jane Doe’s experience of feeling ignored, misrepresented and dismissed.

It’s commendable that colleges take proactive measures to protect their students, but it’s troubling to consider that the Cornell case could be one of many. If this case teaches us anything, it’s that colleges must do better by their students — young adults who deserve respect, accountability and due process.

Students have the right to be heard, taken seriously and treated with care and accountability when they come forward. No one should have to spend years seeking accountability that should have been there from beginning.

When students find the courage to speak up, the least their institution can do is listen.

Jordan Vallone is deputy managing editor of Herald Community Newspapers. Comments? jvallone@liherald.com.