FAS Dean Hoekstra Addresses Cornell Sexual Assault Case, Calls Description ‘Horrific’

Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra addressed an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University at a Tuesday faculty meeting, calling the description of the incident “horrific and really difficult to comprehend.”

A former Cornell student sued the school and seven fraternity members last month, alleging that multiple men drugged and raped her at the fraternity’s house in October 2024 — a case that has since made national headlines. Hoekstra is the first Harvard official to publicly discuss the case at Cornell, where administrators have been criticized for their response to the incident.

The suit — brought against Cornell, the fraternity, her own sorority, a bar she visited earlier in the evening, and the seven men who she says assaulted her — alleges that Cornell acted negligently, breached contract, and violated New York state law. The woman, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, first reported the assault in 2024, and the Tompkins County district attorney declined to bring charges.

“What has been described is horrific and really difficult to comprehend,” Hoekstra said at the Tuesday meeting. “It has also brought renewed attention to something I know from experience.”

She added that she had “seen this firsthand” as a woman in science and as an undergraduate, graduate student, and tenure-track faculty member.

“Safety and respect are not peripheral to academic excellence,” she said. “They are what enable students, faculty, staff, and researchers to show up fully.”

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment on the Cornell incident, instead pointing The Crimson to Harvard’s Title IX policies, which prohibit sexual harassment and sexual violence.

The University’s “Interim Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy,” first outlined in 2020, covers harassment that happens on campus or in connection with University-recognized programming.

The policy includes punishments for violations “ranging from an admonition or warning up to, and including, termination, dismissal, expulsion, or referral to a process that may result in revocation of tenure.” Harvard consolidated its Title IX and Title VI compliance efforts under a new office in August 2025.

Hoekstra made a broad reference to Harvard’s policies during the Tuesday meeting.

“As faculty, we have a responsibility not only to uphold our policies fully and consistently, but also to develop a culture that honors the dignity of every member of our community and treats each other with respect,” she said.

“The situation unfolding now is a tragic reminder of the responsibility we all share to keep working every day to make this the institution that our community deserves,” she added.

Hoekstra’s remarks represent a rare comment from a Harvard administrator on current events after the University adopted an institutional voice policy in 2024 restricting its top officials — and even some academic leaders — from issuing stances on controversial policy issues.

Swain referred The Crimson to a publicly available list of frequently asked questions on the policy. The document suggests that leaders should not issue statements on “events capturing significant public attention unless they also raise issues concerning core University functions.”

The alleged sexual assault at Cornell has sparked outcry across college campuses, including at Harvard.

An anonymous writer detailed their experience with sexual assault at Harvard in an op-ed to The Crimson last week. The number of reported rapes at Harvard increased in 2025, according to the Harvard University Police Department’s annual report, rising from seven in 2024 to 12 in 2025.

Harvard’s Title IX policies have come under scrutiny frequently over the last decade, as multiple professors faced sexual harassment investigations and received sanctions.

In 2024, Germanic Languages and Literatures professor Eric Rentschler was placed on administrative leave for two years for violating the policies. The same year, Anthropology professor John L. Comaroff retired without emeritus status after four years of sexual harassment accusations.

In 2018, Economics professor Roland G. Fryer Jr. was investigated by Harvard and the state of Massachusetts over accusations of Title IX violations. Fryer has since returned to teaching and research after a two-year suspension. The same year, sexual harassment accusations against Government professor Jorge I. Dominguez stretching over nearly 40 years came to light.

—Staff writer Abigail S. Gerstein can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at abbysg.97. Follow her on X @abbysgerstein.

—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at amannsm.38. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.