A 20-year-old Cornell student says she was pressured into snorting ketamine at the Chi Phi house at 107 Edgemoor Lane in Ithaca on the night of October 19, 2024.
At 1:42 a.m., according to her lawsuit, a fraternity member posted two words in the frat’s Snapchat group chat, “Chi Phi Actives.”
“Free p*ssy.”
The complaint says Johnathan Newell sent it. More men came upstairs after that. She says the assault went on until about 5:45 in the morning. More than four hours.
These seven men are named in the lawsuit:
Matthew Ingalls
Johnathan Newell
Winston Lee
Gillio Lopes
Diego Sarabia
Scott Norris
Scott Kretzschmar
She reported it to campus police on November 8, 2024. The fraternity was suspended, and so were those seven men, temporarily.
Then, according to the lawsuit, Cornell offered them a way to “mitigate” what they’d done.
Write an essay….An essay.
That’s what a sophomore gets for plagiarizing a lab report.
Her lawyer says two of the men were expelled after at least 12 hearings. The rest got suspensions, workshops or essays. The Tompkins County DA decided there wasn’t enough evidence to charge anyone.
Not one arrest.
Cornell’s answer? “We take sexual violence extremely seriously.” Also, federal privacy law means they can’t say what happened to anyone. Also, there’s a task force.
So here’s my question. Where are the essays?
If a few pages were supposed to “mitigate” what she describes, I want to read them. Every word. Put them on the Cornell homepage. Frame them in the frat house they can’t use anymore. Print them in the admissions brochure right next to “We take sexual violence extremely seriously.”
Now step back and look at where we are.
Nobody in that group chat saw “free p*ssy” and called 911. Nobody typed “what the hell is wrong with you.” The message went out, and by her account, the response was to show up.
That isn’t one monster. That’s a culture. That’s young men who knew nobody would stop them, and that the worst case was a meeting with a dean.
And they were right to think so, weren’t they?
We live in a country where a kid can get years for selling weed, and a room full of future lawyers, bankers and CEOs can walk away from a gang rape allegation with a writing assignment.
Where the woman’s name stays hidden to protect her, and their names stay quiet to protect their “futures.”
Where the first question is always what she drank, how much, and why she went upstairs. Never why seven men saw an unconscious woman and thought “opportunity.”
We keep telling women to watch their drinks, go out in groups, share their location, carry pepper spray, text when they get home. We give them a whole survival guide.
What do we give the men? An essay prompt.
And every girl who reads this story learns the same thing. Report it, and you’ll relive it in a dozen hearings. Your name gets redacted, your life gets picked apart, and the people you accuse might get to reflect in 1,000 words or fewer.
That’s not a justice system. That’s a customer service desk for rich boys.
Her parents sent her to one of the best schools in the country and trusted it to keep her safe. She says she woke up to the worst night of her life, and the school handed out homework.
She got a lifetime. Some of them got a writing assignment.
So yes, Cornell. Publish the essays. Let the whole country read them. Let’s find out just how sorry a person has to sound for you to call it even.
These are allegations in a civil lawsuit filed September 14, 2026. None of the men have been criminally charged, and Scott Kretzschmar’s lawyer denies the allegations against him.
