Cornell names Sally Yates to lead review of rape case handling

Cornell University named Sally Yates, a former acting U.S. attorney general and career federal prosecutor, to lead an independent internal review of how the school handled a former student's rape allegations, the school announced on Tuesday. Yates was picked by the newly formed Special Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees, according to NPR. She is a partner at King & Spalding and served as U.S. deputy attorney general under President Barack Obama.

The school said Yates will also examine its policies on how it "prevents and responds to sexual harassment, sexual assault and related misconduct on campus." Anne Meinig Smalling, chair of the special committee, said in the announcement: "Sally Yates brings extraordinary experience, independence and judgment to this work." Smalling said the questions raised by the Jane Doe matter warrant a rigorous examination of Cornell's response, and that the committee asked Yates and her team to examine Cornell's overall approach, identify where it does things well and where it can do better, and recommend changes.

The woman identified in the suit as Jane Doe filed her civil lawsuit in mid-September, according to NPR. She alleges that seven men drugged and assaulted her for several hours in October 2024 at their Chi Phi fraternity house on campus. No criminal charges were ever filed against the men, and those named in the lawsuit have denied all wrongdoing. Cornell University is also named as a defendant in the suit.

Cornell has maintained that Cornell University Police investigated the case thoroughly and that the school held its own Title IX investigation, a review under the federal law that requires schools to respond to sexual harassment and assault complaints, which resulted in suspensions and expulsions. In the weeks since the lawsuit was filed, students have protested the university's response to the case, according to NPR. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed state Attorney General Letitia James to lead a criminal investigation into the rape case, after criticism of its handling by campus police and the local prosecutor, Matthew Van Houten.

On Wednesday, students plan to hold a seven-hour sit-in as part of a campus-wide "zero day" action. Students say they will not attend class or spend money for those seven hours. "We have shared our collective demands. Now, we are asking our community to physically show up and stand—or, for seven hours, sit—with survivors," the university group Cornell NAACP said on Instagram.