Cornell University police arrested a student on drug-related allegations at the troubled Chi Phi fraternity house in New York less than a day before seven former fraternity members were accused in a new civil lawsuit of gang-raping a female classmate, according to the university’s crime blotter.
The Cornell Daily Sun, an independent student newspaper, brought the previously reported daily crime-log entry back into focus in a report published over the weekend.
The blotter says campus police went to the university-owned fraternity house at about 1 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2024, and arrested a student on drug charges. It does not specify the alleged offenses, stating only that “an individual has been referred to the Office of Student Conduct.”
Police officers respond to an act of vandalism at Day Hall on the campus of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Monday, October 5, 2026. The building was attacked early Monday morning with graffiti which would suggest that the attack is in response to an alleged sexual assault in 2024, accused are some members of the Chi Phi fraternity. (Everett Chambala / The Cornell Daily Sun)
The entry does not identify the substance involved, say whether the arrested student belonged to Chi Phi or explain how the case was ultimately handled.
News Outlet contacted Cornell University for comment but had not received a response.
Later that day, the fraternity hosted a party that continued into the early hours of the next morning.
The Chi Phi fraternity house stands on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, N.Y., on Oct. 2, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
That gathering is cited in a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of an unidentified woman referred to as Jane Doe. She reported a sexual assault to university police on Nov. 8, telling investigators it occurred sometime between 11 p.m. on Oct. 19 and 5:45 a.m. on Oct. 20.
Doe’s lawsuit also claims she was pressured to snort ketamine during the party.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration describes ketamine as an anesthetic that can produce dissociative and hallucinogenic effects. The agency also warns that it “has also been used to facilitate sexual assault.”
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A sign on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. (TW Farlow/Getty Images)
According to the complaint, Chi Phi was suspended on Nov. 8, 2024—the same day Doe brought her sexual-assault allegations to campus police.
In a separate incident early Monday, vandals broke windows and sprayed red slogans across Day Hall, a university administrative building, images published by the Daily Sun show.
“We understand the frustration and strong emotions being expressed across our community,” Kyle Kimball, Cornell’s vice president for university relations, said in a statement to Fox News. “Those concerns deserve to be heard, but damaging property is not the answer. We are investigating the vandalism at Day Hall and will address it in accordance with University policy and applicable law.”
Tompkins County prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges after Doe initially reported the alleged assault to university police in 2024.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James attend a press conference regarding an investigation into alleged sexual assault at Cornell University, in New York City, Oct. 2, 2026. (Reuters/Jeenah Moon)
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has said Doe’s sworn statement from November 2024 did not claim she was drugged without her consent or gang-raped. Instead, he said, the statement characterized her drug use and sexual activity as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual.”
But a local CBS New York report said investigators later conducted a two-day interview with Doe on Nov. 14 and 15. During that interview, she reportedly separated an initially consensual encounter from the alleged assault that followed at the party, telling investigators, “I can say with 100% confidence I was raped.”
“Nobody knows this information about the transcript and that gives me something to really dig into because that changes the landscape for me,” Van Houten told the outlet.
A general view of Day Hall on the campus of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Monday, October 5, 2026. The building was vandalized early Monday morning with graffiti which would suggest that the attack is in response to an alleged sexual assault in 2024, accused are some members of the Chi Phi fraternity. (Varsha Bhargava / The Cornell Daily Sun)
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor last week to examine the allegations raised in Doe’s lawsuit.
Jeremy Saland, the attorney for one of the former fraternity brothers named in the lawsuit, Scott Kretzschmar, told News Outlet that his client welcomes “a full and thorough investigation” into Doe’s allegations.
“Fairness and justice demand it, and she deserves nothing less,” Saland said. “Justice also requires that those entrusted with the investigation reach conclusions from the evidence, not from statements made before the evidence has been reviewed. Though Scott has never been accused of rape, he is confident that an objective and honest process will clear him of any criminal wrongdoing.”
