Cornell 7 Fraternity Member Accused of Rape Finds an Unlikely Advocate in a Woman

For families able to afford it, being expelled from one of the nation’s top universities over serious misconduct allegations—including sexual assault—does not necessarily bring a student’s academic journey to an end.

That was the predicament confronting the parents of one of seven Cornell fraternity members accused of sexual abuse in a closely watched lawsuit. The complaint describes an alleged hours-long, drug-fueled gang rape at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024.

Cornell carried out its own extensive investigation and ultimately punished all seven men, imposing different sanctions. Two students were expelled, others were suspended or prohibited from campus, and the remaining students received lesser penalties. All seven denied wrongdoing.

With their son’s future at the Ivy League university in jeopardy, his parents began searching for an alternative last year. Their efforts led them to Hanna Stotland.

A Harvard-trained attorney, Stotland has developed a specialized practice helping students disciplined or expelled by prestigious universities secure admission elsewhere and resume their education.

Her clients have faced allegations ranging from drug use and academic cheating to misconduct investigated under Title IX, the federal framework universities use to address claims of sexual misconduct.

For a retainer of several thousand dollars, on top of a substantial hourly fee, Stotland guides students through the admissions process and helps them present their disciplinary records in what she describes as the “best truthful light.”

She declined to identify which member of the Cornell group she was hired to assist, but said the family’s request was typical of the inquiries she receives.

“A family contacted me and said, ‘My student has been disciplined at Cornell, and we need help getting him to continue his education,’” she said.

“I get that call 50 times a year—and those are only the people who actually hire me. I receive even more calls than that.”

Stotland said she could not discuss the advice given to the Cornell student, but outlined the strategy she uses for young men facing similar circumstances.

She starts by creating what she calls an “educational history” for each client. That includes reviewing grades, academic interests, career goals and the level of university the student might realistically be able to attend.

Her role does not include determining whether the original accusation or disciplinary decision was justified.

“I’m not involved in assessing whether the student was rightly or wrongly disciplined,” Stotland said. “I’m interested in the story of their education.”

She then examines the disciplinary case and helps the student explain the events in application essays. The goal, she said, is to avoid concealing or minimizing damaging facts that another university could uncover on its own.

That approach does not require a student to admit guilt. Someone who believes they were falsely accused can maintain that position, Stotland said, while still acknowledging what the former university concluded and accurately addressing the facts that counted against them.

“I tell all of my students, ‘Lying is free,’” Stotland said. “If you want to hide this and lie to other universities, you don’t need my help. You need my help if you want to tell difficult truths.”

For those who accept responsibility, or were found responsible, the pitch becomes less about disputing the old case and more about demonstrating what has changed since: what they learned, how their behavior has changed and why another university should believe that they won’t cause any trouble.

Prospective universities typically aren’t looking to retry another school’s Title IX case, she added. What they want to know is who the applicant is now and whether admitting them poses a risk.

‘Who are you now? How has this changed you? What insight do you have about this problem?’ she said. ‘Why should we trust you that you’re not going to make trouble at our school?’

Finding a path forward for those involved in Title IX investigations can be difficult, with the odds stacked firmly against.

For an Ivy League student, however, there is another uncomfortable reality: the next move is almost always down.

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‘If you get kicked out of Cornell, there will not be another Cornell,’ she said. ‘These students do need to be very flexible. If there’s a school that’s going to give you a chance, you need to give them a chance.’

Jonathan Newell, one of the two students expelled by Cornell over Jane Doe’s claims, quietly enrolled at Nova Southeastern University in Florida earlier this year.

His attempt at a fresh start was upended after Doe’s lawsuit made the allegations national news and sparked a flood of complaints from concerned parents over student safety, prompting NSU to order him to stay away from campus, Our News Outlet exclusively revealed this week.

Stotland said most Title IX students will be rejected by the majority of schools they approach, which is why she typically advises a transfer applicant to apply to around 30 universities in the hope of securing five or six offers. To her, that would be ‘a terrific outcome.’

She recalled one former Title IX client who applied to 80 medical schools and was accepted by just one. She considers him one of the greatest successes of her career.

Most of Stotland’s clients need only five to seven hours of her time, she said. Her fees are comparable to hiring an experienced specialist lawyer.

The extraordinary publicity surrounding the Cornell case could, Stotland believes, make it harder for students accused of sexual misconduct to find new placements, at least in the near term, as universities become more wary of applicants with serious disciplinary histories and the unwanted attention they could bring.

For the Cornell seven themselves, that scrutiny is already unavoidable. Any attempt to quietly rebuild their academic lives is now likely to attract unwelcome attention, as Newell discovered when outrage followed him to his new campus.

But Stotland said her own experience has given her little reason to fear repeat trouble from the students she places.

She has never had a Title IX client accused of sexual misconduct at a second institution, Stotland claimed.

‘My Title IX students who transfer or go to grad school become monks,’ she said. ‘They are the most careful and conservative folks on campus. They scurry from the dorm to the library and back.’

Perhaps surprisingly, receiving universities rarely impose extra restrictions on students admitted after sexual misconduct findings.

Stotland said she once expected schools to place such students on probation or bar them from living in dormitories. Instead, in her experience, universities tend to make the decision at the admissions stage: either they are comfortable taking the student or they are not.

There are often even fewer barriers overseas. Stotland said many British universities place far less emphasis on students’ disciplinary histories than their US counterparts, with some not asking about them at all.

That could offer an avenue for another member of the so-called Cornell 7, Mathew Ingalls, who was expelled alongside Newell.

Our News Outlet revealed this week that Ingalls is believed to have returned to Dubai, where he grew up and attended an elite private school. A neighbor of his relatives in Connecticut said he had not been seen there recently and believed he was living with his father in the Gulf.

Whether Ingalls intends to resume his studies elsewhere is unknown. Before Cornell, he had secured offers from several leading US universities, but there is no public indication that he has since enrolled at another institution.

It’s equally unclear what the future holds for Jane Doe.

Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, told Our News Outlet this week that after leaving Cornell in the wake of the alleged assault, she tried to quietly rebuild her life in New York City and launch a career in hospitality.

But after filing her lawsuit last month, sparking nationwide attention as well as an onslaught of online abuse and death threats, she moved back in with her family out of fear for her safety.

Giuffra said she has not ruled out returning to college once the attention subsides.

Stotland also works with accusers whose education has been derailed by Title IX cases, including those looking to transfer after their grades or studies suffered.

‘Accusers frequently, they’re struggling and they want to transfer for obvious reasons,’ she said. ‘Sometimes that’s particularly challenging for them because the whole experience has brought their GPA down.’

And while much of what happened after Cornell’s disciplinary process fits a world Stotland knows well, she said the underlying case itself stands apart from almost anything she has encountered.

‘This is very unusual,’ she said. ‘There are elements of the case that are common to many of my cases, but the scale of it and the severity of it are unique.’