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Don opened by telling me he’d gone to an event the night before, and all anyone wanted to talk about was the Cornell 7. That tracks. This story has broken through to the mainstream in a profound way, and after spending the day reading the newly released documents, I came into the conversation with one question I couldn’t shake.
Why did Cornell police leave out the part of Jane Doe’s statement where she said she was 100% confident that she was raped? As I told Don, it’s either malpractice or it was intentional. Either way, that omission taints everything that came after it.
The punishment the young men faced alone made no sense. Some students were suspended or expelled, which acknowledges wrongdoing. Yet no one has been criminally prosecuted, and some were simply made to write an essay. I asked why the Tompkins County DA shut the case down without requesting the transcripts. I also argued the law itself has to change. Someone who is that intoxicated cannot consent, and laws that say otherwise protect abusers.
Don raised the contrast that sharpened the whole conversation. Not long ago, students were expelled and lost job offers for speaking out on Gaza. Now students accused of something far more dangerous are getting a slap on the wrist. I argued this is how power works inside elite institutions. A protester with no connections is an easy expulsion. A donor’s son or a board member’s kid comes with considerations. Don added that the campus crackdown had wealthy, organized backers behind it, while survivors rarely have a coalition like that. I was clear that I’m not declaring these young men guilty. My questions are about the process. But we’ve all just had an education watching the Epstein saga, and the lesson holds here too. Where there’s money and power, accountability is hard to find.
That’s why this case is resonating far beyond Ithaca. So many women recognize some version of this story from their own lives. I pointed to the LSU case and the “I Am Jane Doe” trend spreading online, and I told Don we may be at the start of another movement like “Me Too.” Don, speaking as a survivor himself, wondered whether the secrecy meant to protect survivors also shapes what investigators choose to write down. The failures went beyond the police. According to the documents, when Jane Doe went to a doctor shortly after the alleged assault and said she got her UTI in a traumatic way, she was referred to a therapist instead of being offered a rape kit.
I also brought something personal into this one. I just had a son, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how we raise our boys. Are we teaching them what consent really means, regardless of what any state law says? Cornell will face serious liability, and this lawsuit is only the beginning. When there’s one, there are usually many. Don closed by calling this a symptom of the larger culture. I agree, and that culture won’t change until the institutions protecting it are forced to answer for it.
You can watch our full conversation above. And, as always, thank you for supporting independent media.
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