How Cornell has deepened college women’s nihilism about campus assault
After waves of outcry following each high-profile campus assault case, young women are losing hope that meaningful progress will ever materialize.
Key points
- I’m worried that this is going to be another, ‘Oh crap, that happens,’ and then everybody continues on because everyone’s so desensitized to it now.” “Cover your drinks” Campus sexual assault is common.
- Campos said the Cornell case opened her eyes to the widespread issue of campus rape, and said the ongoing news coverage has made it easier for her and her friends to discuss their past sexual experiences, stories that might not have otherwise come to light.
- A 2017 study concluded that the “one in five” statistic that is often used to quantify it is “is a reasonably accurate average across women and campuses.” In New York, a state that requires schools to report sexual assault, more than 25,000 incidents of sexual misconduct involving a student were documented between 2018 and 2024.
The university’s faculty senate voted no confidence in Cornell’s administration “to effectively address the ongoing crisis of sexual assault.” Cornell’s board of trustees, however, said it still has faith in the administration.
Additional details
- Today’s college students had reason to believe that the harrowing stories and bravery from young women like Chanel Miller, Emma Sulkowicz, and the survivors of Larry Nassar could change the culture.
- This mirrors what many women on America’s college campuses are feeling right now: Despite decades of advocacy and education around sexual violence, these incidents are still not taken seriously.
- And just this week, New York Focus uncovered a 2023 lawsuit against Cornell in which two students alleged the school did not take their accusations of sexual assault seriously.
- Now, more than a decade later, the Cornell allegations represent another tipping point — where women’s safety would finally be taken seriously.
- Today, women continue to bear the brunt of speaking out mistreatment and sexual assault: They lean on “ Are we sharing boyfriends?
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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