Cornell kept student in dorm room for 2 weeks after lawsuit filed

A Cornell University student suspended for three semesters over a 2024 fraternity house assault allegation returned to campus this fall and was assigned a co-ed dorm room with a roommate who did not know his history, psychology professor Corinna Loeckenhoff told a Faculty Senate meeting on Oct. 14. Housing officials left him in that room for two weeks after a woman filed a lawsuit against him in September.

Loeckenhoff said she raised the issue during the meeting where professors debated a resolution of no confidence in President Michael Kotlikoff. "This was a clear security risk," she told Kotlikoff, according to a recording obtained by The Associated Press. "Why was Housing Services not aware of this? They had no clue until the shocked roommate contacted them and asked them for a room change," she said.

The woman, identified in court papers as Jane Doe, sued Cornell and seven men last month. She says she was given ketamine and raped at a Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024. All seven men have denied her allegations. The local district attorney initially found she had consented, but the case was reopened and handed to New York's attorney general. Cornell's Title IX investigation disciplined two students with expulsion, two with suspension and probation, and two with reflection papers and bystander training. A seventh man had already graduated and was barred from campus.

At the meeting, Kotlikoff said the disciplinary panel, not him, decided to allow the student to return. "It's something you might disagree with.. but we didn't hear the evidence," he said. He added: "If we didn't do that, I pledge to look into what happened there." Cornell's media relations office said students who complete suspensions and other sanctions "regain the same rights and responsibilities as their classmates, including eligibility for housing." The university said it "will review whether concerns were raised with housing or other offices and, if so, whether appropriate accommodations were provided."

Andrew Miltenberg, an attorney representing the student who returned, said his client maintains the encounter was consensual. "These are seven different people, with different circumstances, and each deserves to be judged on the evidence concerning him," Miltenberg said. Federal privacy law generally bars universities from telling roommates about another student's disciplinary history. Kristi Patrickus, a board member of the Association for Student Conduct Administration, said there are no exceptions that allow disclosure to a roommate. Debate on the no-confidence resolution resumes Wednesday.