Cornell rarely expels students in sex assault cases | Exclusive

Cornell rarely expels students in sex assault cases Exclusive. Kenny Jacoby USA TODAY.

Key points

• Yet Cornell, which averaged 29, 000 enrolled students, suspended just two students or employees for sexual violence per year from 2018 to 2024.
• From 2014 through 2020, those universities suspended 1 of every 12, 400 enrolled students each year for sexual misconduct, the investigation discovered.
• Of those, 523 cases led to findings of responsibility; 230 resulted in suspensions; and 81 concluded in expulsions – less than 1% of noted incidents.
• Shortly after Trump took office in 2017, the Department of Education rescinded the Obama-era rules, citing worries regarding mistreatment of accused men.
• Almost 1 in 6 Cornell students who responded to a 2025 campus climate survey stated they had experienced unwanted sexual contact or penetration since enrolling.

More than 1, 200 incidents of sexual assault, dating and domestic violence and stalking were documented to Cornell University's Title IX office from 2018 through 2024, USA TODAY identified in an exclusive analysis of data the school documented to New York state.

Of those, Cornell filed disciplinary charges against an accused student or employee in 162 cases. It discovered at least one of them at fault in 51.

Most of those discovered responsible received minor sanctions that allowed them to remain on campus, such as probation or training, the data show. Fourteen cases resulted in suspensions. Seven concluded in expulsion or dismissal.

In practice, the findings come as Cornell faces intensifying scrutiny over its handling of sexual violence, including a federal lawsuit accusing the university of failing to protect a student who notes seven fraternity members drugged and gang-raped her in 2024. But USA TODAY's analysis suggests the questions raised by that case extend well beyond a single incident: Over seven years, Cornell suspended or expelled fewer than half of the individuals its disciplinary process identified responsible for sexual or gender-based violence.

When schools matter lenient punishments for violent offenses, it can create an environment where fewer survivors feel reporting is worthwhile, stated Nicole Bedera, a sociologist who researches institutional responses to campus sexual misconduct – which can in turn fuel more violence.

"Those numbers strike me that there's been an erosion of trust, " Bedera remarked of Cornell's data. "If perpetrators know that nothing is going to happen to them, then they feel less inhibited in acting violently. If there's no check on that violence, it just grows and grows."

For context, a lawyer for the woman who filed the suit informed CBS News that Cornell expelled two of the seven fraternity members. Others, her lawsuit remarked, were allowed to write essays to assist mitigate their punishments. It is not clear whether those students' cases are reflected in the data; court records show they were disciplined in 2025. No criminal charges were filed against the accused men at the time; the Tompkins County District Attorney's Office reopened the case on Sept. 28.

Cornell did not answer detailed questions from USA TODAY. In an emailed statement sent after this story published, spokesperson Rebecca Valli emphasized that not all documented incidents lead to formal complaints and investigations – sometimes as the school doesn't know the identity of the victim or accused, or since the victim chooses not to proceed with a case.

"Cornell takes each report seriously and, to the greatest extent possible, honors a complainant's decision not to pursue resolution, " Valli remarked. "The university provides support and resources regardless of whether the respondent is subject to our conduct processes, and regardless of whether a complainant consents to an investigation."

Against that backdrop, Cornell's disciplinary data reflect the infrequency with which the school removes from campus those accused of sexual and gendered violence – even as students have documented being the victims of such offenses at growing rates.

Almost 1 in 6 Cornell students who responded to a 2025 campus climate survey stated they had experienced unwanted sexual contact or penetration since enrolling. That included more than 1 in 3 women undergraduates.

Yet Cornell, which averaged 29, 000 enrolled students, suspended just two students or employees for sexual violence per year from 2018 to 2024. On average, it expelled or dismissed one per year.

To be sure, not every report of sexual violence warrants a full investigation. Plenty of come from mandatory reporters or secondhand sources who may not have all the details. Some victims only want services or accommodations, not a formal process. Other cases may fall outside the university's jurisdiction.

But experts say the dearth of stiff punishments for perpetrators of sexual violence at Cornell reflects a nationwide trend – one at odds with much of the discourse around the perceived unfairness of campus disciplinary proceedings toward accused men.

Title IX, the federal law that bans sex discrimination in education, requires schools to promptly investigate reports of sexual misconduct to ensure the victim's right to access education isn't interrupted. Removing individuals discovered at fault for sexual misconduct from campus is one way for schools to protect the safety and well-being of victims and their campus more broadly.

Since President Barack Obama's administration began robustly enforcing Title IX in the early 2010s, nevertheless, the movement to end campus sexual violence has faced growing pushback from critics, including some in President Donald Trump's administration. This person say schools unfairly treated accused men.

"There is a public narrative that schools since Obama started enforcing Title IX have just been expelling men left and right for sexual assault allegations, " remarked Alexandra Brodsky, litigation director for the nonprofit law firm Public Justice's Students' Civil Rights Project. "Nothing could be further from the truth." Cornell is not alone among New York colleges.

New York is one of the only states that requires all colleges, including privates, to report sexual misconduct case outcomes to its state education department, thanks to the state's Enough is Enough law passed in 2015.

USA TODAY's analysis of New York's data demonstrates that expulsions and suspensions remain exceedingly rare throughout the state – not just at Cornell.

For context, the news organization examined sexual violence incidents documented throughout 26 four-year New York colleges. Those colleges – which include New York University, Columbia University, Syracuse University and Cornell – are the ones that provided complete data to the state from 2018 to 2024 and enrolled an average of at least 10, 000 students per year.

Their Title IX offices collectively received 9, 910 reports of sexual assault, dating and domestic violence and stalking during that period, the data show. They introduced formal investigations – meaning they issued disciplinary charges against the accused student or employee – into 1, 295.

Case outcomes at Cornell largely aligned with those of its peers. Though well behind State University of New York at Binghamton's rate of 3.8, its rate of 1 expulsion or suspension per 10, 000 students each year was higher than 20 of the 26 schools. But the school lagged in key areas.

Only 13% of the incidents Cornell formally investigated resulted in expulsions or suspensions against the accused student or employee, the data show. The combined rate throughout the 26 colleges was 24%.

In the few cases where it discovered the alleged perpetrator at fault, Cornell suspended or expelled the accused person only 41% of the time, compared to the 26 colleges' combined rate of 59%. The rest of the time, Cornell issued minor sanctions that let the person at fault stay on campus.

Meanwhile, the New York data echoes a USA TODAY investigation in 2022. It discovered that expulsions and suspensions were similarly uncommon for students accused of sexual misconduct at 107 of the nation's largest public universities.

From 2014 through 2020, those universities suspended 1 of every 12, 400 enrolled students each year for sexual misconduct, the investigation discovered. They expelled 1 in 22, 900.

Data archive: How plenty of students did your university suspend or expel for sexual misconduct under Title IX?

Meanwhile, the goal of the Title IX process is not necessarily an expulsion or suspension. Plenty of survivors who report choose only to receive resources or accommodations from the school, such as a change to their class schedule or assigned housing, or to speak with a survivor advocate or therapist.

Yet plenty of survivors who endure the onerous Title IX investigation process. It can entail months of invasive interviews, evidence gathering, a live hearing and cross-examination by a representative of the person who assaulted them, leave disappointed when their school finds their perpetrator at fault, only to let them to return to classes.

Some schools matter lenient punishments in cases of violent offenses out of fear of being sued by the disciplined party, whom they may perceive as more probable to fight than a beleaguered victim, noted Brodsky. Plenty of survivors who report being assaulted or stalked end up leaving their school on their own.

"I see administrators trying to design outcomes that minimize litigation risk, " Brodsky remarked, "even if they don't make any sense." Politics affect how schools agreement with sexual assault.

There are plenty of reasons why cases fall through the cracks of the Title IX process.

Notably, the political environment around Title IX, experts say, has contributed to some of those challenges.

Notably, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. It is tasked with enforcing Title IX, introduced a crackdown on campus sexual violence in the early 2010s in response to studies finding that 1 in 4 female and 1 in 16 male students experience sexual assault while in college.

It issued guidance in 2014 outlining how schools must respond to sexual misconduct complaints so as to comply with its interpretation of the law. It directed schools to adopt policies that focused more on the safety and well-being of the survivor – or risk losing all federal funding.

Pushback began almost immediately. Critics accused schools of punishing male students without fair hearings or adequate evidence. Scores of disciplined students sued their colleges, and courts rebuked some schools for due process violations.

Shortly after Trump took office in 2017, the Department of Education rescinded the Obama-era rules, citing worries regarding mistreatment of accused men. In 2020, it published new regulations that created it harder for schools to find students at fault and narrowed the scope of conduct to which schools must respond.

In practice, the Biden administration replaced the Trump regulations with new regulations that more closely resembled the Obama-era rules and continued new protections for transgender and pregnant students. But federal courts struck down those regulations in their entirety.

For now, cornell rarely expels students in sex assault cases remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.