NEW YORK: A Korean student is among seven current and former Cornell University students named as defendants in a lawsuit involving the alleged group sexual assault of a female student, news reports said Sunday (Sept 27).
According to The Cornell Daily Sun, the woman, a Cornell graduate, filed the lawsuit in New York on Sept. 14, accusing the defendants, who were members of Cornell’s chapter of Chi Phi, a national fraternity with chapters at universities across the US, of forcing her to take drugs and sexually assaulting her at the fraternity house in October 2024.
The complaint claims that some of the men continued to sexually assault the woman despite knowing that she was unable to clearly communicate due to the effects of alcohol and drugs. The woman reported the incident to Cornell University Police about three weeks later.
The case has sent shockwaves through the Korean American community, as one of the defendants is a Korean student surnamed Lee. He is expected to graduate from Cornell in 2027.
The Ivy League university temporarily suspended the Chi Phi chapter and the students implicated in the case while conducting an internal investigation and disciplinary review. Some students were later expelled or suspended.
The incident did not result in criminal charges. The Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office told CBS New York that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute after reviewing the police investigation. - The Korea Herald/ANN
