Cornell's Frat House Scandal: What Didn't the University Do?

Cornell University documented significant drug activity at the Chi Phi fraternity house before a student was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted there — with campus cops making a drug bust just hours before the reported gang rape, and responding to a ketamine overdose a day before, records show.

Cornell University Police responded to Chi Phi at about 1:05 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2024, and made a drug-related arrest during the roughly 40-minute response, referring an individual to the school’s Office of Student Conduct, according to the department’s Daily Crime Log.

A newly released Cornell Title IX hearing decision also documented an overdose at Chi Phi.

“Ketamine was a substance used by multiple individuals in the Chi Phi house at the time, including [redacted] who had overdosed on or about Oct. 18, 2024,” the university hearing document states, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.

The revelations raise fresh questions about why Chi Phi was not suspended on the days the drug bust and OD happened — and before a woman claims she was assaulted there.

Hours after the drug bust, the former Cornell student identified in court papers as Jane Doe says she arrived at the house around 11 p.m. and was later pressured into taking drugs before being sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members into the early morning hours of Oct. 20.

Her lawsuit alleges Cornell “knew or should have known” that Chi Phi had a history of drug use, specifically ketamine, and claims that police responded to a drug-related incident at the house about a week before the alleged assault.

Here’s the latest on the ‘Cornell 7’ frat probe:

• Outraged Cornell students, parents demand accountability in Jane Doe gang-rape case: ‘Fight like hell’
• ‘Deeply disturbed’ Hochul rages at how ‘brave’ Cornell 7 accuser was ‘failed at every turn’
• The sick, online posts that pushed Cornell 7 rape accuser to go to cops: ‘I was a sex doll’
• Everything we know about explosive ‘Cornell 7’ rape case shocking the nation

Cornell’s current Sorority and Fraternity Life policy prohibits illegal drugs at chapter houses and says a chapter may be immediately placed on interim suspension when violations pose health and safety risks.

Chi Phi was ultimately suspended on Nov. 8, 2024, when Doe reported the alleged assault to campus police.

The Chi Phi frat house was known at the Ithaca Ivy League as the “rugby house,” and players had a reputation on campus for being drunken rowdies, according to some students.

In a popular online forum about Greek life, one student wrote, “Chi Phi have a lot of ruggers, they drink, of course, as a team, because that’s what rugby players do.”

“Very fratty brothers who are usually real drunk at parties . . . and have turned [Chi Phi] into the rugby house,” said another.

The Post found that three of the “Cornell Seven” were members of the Cornell Rugby Football Club.

A fourth frat member who is not one of the seven but is a named defendant in the lawsuit also played for the rugby club for at least three years, until 2026, according to the club’s rosters.

He was accused in the alleged rape victim’s Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit of “breaching his duty to supervise and maintain” the frat house’s safety as the plaintiff, known only as “Jane Doe,” was “plied with alcohol and drugs” and “sexually assaulted and raped” for at least four hours.

None of the Cornell Seven or the other member have been charged with a crime.

One of the rugby players allegedly suggested a threesome with another fraternity brother and took Doe upstairs sometime after she entered the Chi Phi house at 11 p.m. on Oct. 19, 2024.

After “free p—y” was advertised in a vile Snapchat group chat at 1:42 a.m., another added, “like you can walk in and whip it out.”

Five of them headed upstairs after the Snapchat invite, along with three others, and snorted ketamine off Doe’s body as she was lying on the bed, according to the lawsuit.

One of the frat boys has publicly denied being part of the attack. The others have not responded to the accusations.

Two rugby players allegedly stayed behind when the other brothers left the room after doing ketamine and took Doe to another room where they did more ketamine and had another threesome while she was “completely incapacitated.”

The rugby club says it removed the players, but questions are mounting about what it knew over the past two years, given two of the men played for the team into 2026 — two years after the alleged rape.

While it was quick to say none of the current players are Chi Phi members — the frat has been suspended from campus since the incident — the house has been associated with the school’s rugby club for several years.

The rugby club said in an Instagram post last week it was “deeply disturbed” by the information that came to light, calling the allegations “horrific.”

The club’s head coach, Dave Burke, didn’t return The Post’s calls, and coach Zach Ahlin hung up when reached by a Post reporter.

“Players who were known to be connected with the alleged events were permanently removed from the team and alumni network as soon as their affiliation with the incident was established,” said the statement from Cornell Rugby Football Club posted to Instagram last week.

The club said nothing when the allegations first surfaced in 2024, even as Chi Phi was suspended by the university, yet claimed last week that “team leadership has acted as quickly and thoroughly as the available information has allowed.”

Cornell University didn’t respond to The Post’s questions about the rugby club or about the Oct. 18 and Oct. 19 alleged incidents. Cornell University Police also did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.