A former Cornell University student has filed a lawsuit alleging she was gang raped by seven men at a fraternity party where she was pressured into taking ketamine.
The woman, using the pseudonym Jane Doe, said the men sexually assaulted her and snorted lines of the powerful anaesthetic from her body before the night ended.
The alleged incident took place at a Chi Phi fraternity party in October 2024. All seven men have denied any illegal acts and said any sexual contact was consensual. None of the men have been charged with a crime.
More than 1,000 Cornell University documents obtained by the New York Times highlight the central role the drug allegedly played that night. Jane Doe told university investigators in November 2024 that a combination of drugs and alcohol left her incapable of consenting to sexual activity.
Ketamine is a legal prescription drug frequently used as an anaesthetic for humans and animals. It has increasingly been used as an alternative treatment for depression and anxiety, and as a recreational drug.
Campus drug culture
The university documents contain hundreds of references to ketamine. Witness statements describe a campus drug culture where it was easily available in some social circles, including certain fraternities.
Jane Doe said she consumed a large amount of alcohol before and during the party. She told investigators she did not remember taking her first dose of ketamine, and only realised she had taken it when a Chi Phi brother asked if she wanted more.
She told investigators that the problems really started when ketamine came into play.
Hassam Khan, a 22 year old former student who belonged to a different fraternity and graduated this year, told the New York Times the drug was not hard to find if someone wanted it.
Eleven current and recent Cornell students said cocaine and marijuana were common at campus parties, while ketamine was found more often in circles with heavy substance use.
In August, Cornell Police responded to two reports of possible ketamine theft from the university veterinary medical centre, according to the police crime log.
Fraternity house allegations
Jane Doe told investigators she had first seen ketamine about two weeks before the party, when she was with some of the Chi Phi members she later accused. She said one man pulled out a plastic bag of white powder, which she declined to try.
She asked how he could be sure it was not laced with fentanyl. According to her statement, the man replied that his dealer worked in a Cornell laboratory. The man later told investigators he did not remember making the statement and denied having a dealer in a university lab.
On the night of the party, Jane Doe said she was in an upstairs room at the Chi Phi house surrounded by men. She told a fraternity member she felt uncomfortable.
According to her November 2024 police interview, the man laughed and poured a line of ketamine onto his erect penis. Jane Doe said she felt forced to snort it. The man later told investigators he had no memory of the incident.
Jane Doe told investigators she felt uncomfortable with how the night was going and thought she might pass out if she took more ketamine. She said she reasoned that if she passed out and the men had sex with her, they could be charged with rape.
Conflicting statements
Another fraternity member asked if all the men in the room could use drugs off her body, and she said yes.
Last year, a Cornell disciplinary board ruled there was insufficient evidence to conclude at least one man had used ketamine off her body. According to court documents, he tested negative for the drug after the party.
As she used more ketamine, Jane Doe said she felt her eyes rolling in opposite directions. She said she felt forced to have sex, and that the men should have known how intoxicated she was from her slurred speech.
Investigation records show the men were also feeling the drug's effects. One fraternity member wrote in his statement that within 10 minutes of taking ketamine, he was panting, lost consciousness for several seconds, and told Jane Doe he thought he was going to die. Another said the combination of ketamine, alcohol and marijuana made him vomit for 15 minutes.
The accused students gave conflicting statements about ketamine use that night. One fraternity member said he never took the drug or saw anyone else use it. Another member contradicted this, saying he saw that man snort ketamine off Jane Doe.
A third man admitted snorting the drug off Jane Doe, but said he only did so after she gave verbal permission.
Around 6am, Jane Doe was half asleep in a bedroom when she heard a group of men knocking on the door. She said they wanted to snort cocaine off her, but one of the men who had assaulted her earlier told them to leave.
Police responses
Jane Doe's lawsuit argues Cornell should have known the fraternity had a history of ketamine use. She cited a police response to a drug incident at the house a week before the alleged assault.
The Cornell police crime log shows a drug related arrest at the Chi Phi house less than 24 hours before the party, which was first reported by the Cornell Sun newspaper.
That arrest coincides with a court document referring to a ketamine overdose at the fraternity house on or about 18 October 2024.
Investigation records show Jane Doe met the party DJ, a fraternity member she knew, on the night of the alleged assault. Another student later told her the DJ had overdosed on ketamine and other substances the previous night. She told investigators she thought an overdose was serious, and that it was crazy for him to be back the next day.
Criminal investigation
Jane Doe said ketamine caused hallucinations, affected her memory, and made her vulnerable to the assault. Legal experts have said the drug use will likely complicate a renewed criminal investigation.
New York state rape law makes it difficult for someone who knew they were getting intoxicated to prove they did not consent to sexual contact.
Joseph Palamar, a professor at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, warned that the drug's dissociative and anaesthetic effects can be particularly dangerous when combined with alcohol.
He said users become disconnected from their feelings even in small doses, and that communication becomes very difficult as the dose increases. Palamar found that the proportion of New York nightclub patrons reporting ketamine use almost doubled between 2017 and 2024.
The initial investigation was reviewed by Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who decided not to bring criminal charges. He recently said he did not know about the prior police visit to the fraternity.
The case is now being investigated by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Governor Kathy Hochul appointed her as a special prosecutor after stating she had lost confidence in Van Houten.
