Former Chi Phi members who graduated before 2024 asked Cornell to say publicly they were not in the fraternity's group chat.

Being named on a website is not being accused in court, and none of the seven men named in Jane Doe's civil lawsuit has been criminally charged. CBS News reported the men Adam Ford represents say they were not students in fall 2024 and want Cornell to say who was not in the chat, not who was. The anonymous tip ABC News described is an allegation in a police file. It is not a finding of a cover-up.

CBS News reported Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, that a group of former Cornell University students who were members of the Chi Phi fraternity and graduated in 2022 and 2023 say they are being falsely connected to the alleged October 2024 assault at the fraternity house. CBS News reported that their attorney, Adam Ford, sent an Oct. 3 letter to Brian White, Cornell's vice president and general counsel, asking the university to clear them and others who graduated before the alleged assault. "We understand that federal privacy law limits what Cornell may say about individual students, and we are not asking Cornell to identify anyone who was in the group chat," Ford wrote, according to CBS News. "We are asking for the opposite: a public confirmation as to who was not." A letter is a request. Cornell has not said whether it will grant it.

CBS News reported Ford's letter says none of the men he represents were in the Snapchat thread from the night of the alleged incident, and that they were harassed after a website devoted to exposing people associated with the case posted their names on a list of former Chi Phi members. According to Ford, the messages included "I will find you," "you will never know peace," and "all 57 men of the fraternity deserve public execution," CBS News reported. CBS News reported the names were removed from the website after a cease-and-desist letter on Oct. 2, and that a podcaster who indicated in a post that the men were in the group chat appears to have deleted it after receiving a letter from Ford. Ford wrote that most of the men had employers or schools take adverse actions against them, including placing them on leave, CBS News reported. The men also asked for individual private letters confirming the university has information showing they were not in the "Chi Phi Actives" chat. CBS News reported Cornell did not immediately respond to its request for comment.

ABC News reported Tuesday on Cornell University Police records it reviewed. It reported that one day after a 2024 campus-wide alert about a reported rape at the fraternity, campus police received an anonymous tip that Chi Phi leadership had asked a potential witness to stay quiet because "the reputation of all involved and the frat would be ruined." ABC News reported that videos it obtained show investigators in the following days questioning witnesses about a possible cover-up, and that one female student told investigators, "Chi Phi held a meeting essentially to get all of the men on the same page about what happened." ABC News reported that one fraternity member told police the matter came up only informally at a weekly chapter meeting. "We didn't have a meeting about it specifically," he said, according to ABC News. ABC News reported that all seven accused fraternity members have denied wrongdoing. A tip and a witness interview are what investigators collected. They are not a court's findings.

The woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, sued Cornell, the fraternity, and seven men in September 2026. The Tompkins County District Attorney did not bring charges in 2024. Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor on Oct. 1, and Cornell's trustees announced Tuesday that former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates of King & Spalding will lead an independent review of the university's handling of the case, ABC News reported. No one has been charged with a crime in connection with the allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.