The Cornell Seven — Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar — have been all over the news recently due to the reopening of a case brought against them by an anonymous Cornell University classmate who claims to have been “gang raped” by them at a Chi Phi Fraternity party, an organization of which they were all members. Cornell University, under pressure from students after the story was broken in the Cornell Daily Sun on Sept. 18 by senior editor Cereese Qusba, suspended several members of the organization.
The plaintiff, who is suing Cornell, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, Chi Phi and the seven aforementioned men, alleged that in 2024 she was sexually assaulted by the seven men while unconscious in a bedroom in the fraternity house after having been given copious amounts of alcohol and coerced into consuming ketamine, rendering her fully unable to consent. The suit claims that over the course of seven hours, these men raped her while advertising her body in a group chat with 50 other members of the fraternity.
And none of them spoke up.
Much of the internet has stood with Jane Doe, especially after it was revealed that only two of the seven were expelled, while the rest were required to write essays. People protested the university, vandalized the fraternity and thousands posted TikToks sharing their stories under the banner, “I am Jane Doe.”
But then they flipped after it came to light that Jane Doe had asked to see one of her alleged rapists again.
As it turns out, there are very few “perfect victims.” Over 70% of victims of sexual harassment and assault respond by fawning, which is a response to trauma in which the victim complies with the circumstances of the attack out of fear. Much like freezing, fawning — which women are particularly prone to due to their social conditioning to be compliant, especially with men — is the inability to make a change in the face of extreme circumstances. It happens more than you would think, and for good reason.
Rape is not cut and dry.
Oftentimes, it can be difficult to accept or even understand that you have been assaulted. You don’t want to rock the boat. You want to prove to yourself that you were wrong, that there had been some big misunderstanding, that this person you thought you knew wasn’t hiding something horribly dark within them.
Victim blaming has become somewhat of a trend, particularly on TikTok. There’s an empathy crisis within Generation Z, and that shows as people post about their toxic or abusive relationships and then attempt to defend them — again, fawning to appease their partner or to deny to themselves the circumstances of their victimhood — and commenters respond with “leave him or leave us out of it.”
Yes, it is frustrating to watch someone who seems unwilling to help themself, but what people fail to realize is that they have oftentimes created mental blocks so strong to square the circle of their abuse that they are genuinely incapable of it. Abusers thrive off of isolating their victims, and when people are ridiculed and harassed at every turn for sharing their stories, even in an indirect way, a culture of silence is created in which people feel as though they shouldn’t speak up.
That’s the funny thing — we were all Jane Doe, until we weren’t.
A victim is a victim, regardless of circumstance. Yes, it’s fine to want to wait to fully form and declare an opinion on something until you understand all of the facts — in fact, that’s the mature and intelligent choice. But when you refuse to make a choice and then suddenly one piece of evidence against the victim makes up your mind, you were on the abuser’s side to begin with.
This girl, who is completely anonymous despite multiple attempts to doxx her, has faced such incredible backlash for stepping forward that it is unfathomable she hasn’t collapsed under the stress. She withdrew from Cornell, her dream school since she was a child, while several of her alleged assaulters still freely walk through Ithaca. Not a single person involved was arrested. None were charged.
She spoke up, as victims are so often told to do, and has only been punished for it.
Much like Columbia University’s Emma Sulkowicz, Cornell has done nothing to help Jane Doe. In fact, the administration has actively worked against her and pressured her into silence. Sulkowicz carried that mattress, but we all carry the weight.
You know a victim. You also probably know a perpetrator, even if they don’t consider themself to be one. In fact, up to 39% of men have admitted to committing an act of assault when the question was not specifically worded in a way that directly asked if they had raped another individual. Sexual assault is prevalent on college campuses, and it can be difficult to be a perfect victim when the nature of rape, which often occurs under the influence of intoxicants, is inherently complicated. Seldom is it being forced to the ground by a strange man in a dark alley. It could be a friend, a coworker, a partner, a boss, a professor — someone you know.
So don’t pass judgment now.
When we live in a world of complicity and villainized victims, every single one of us is Jane Doe, because we all have the potential to be her every day.
The Crimson White editorial board consists of Editor-in-Chief Emma Brandenburg; Managing Editor Max Krzeminski; Opinions Editor Mya Ortiz; and Chief Copy Editors Olivia Eastridge and Olivia Van Steenberg.
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