City Council Speaker Julie Menin is calling for the presidents of 10 top colleges and universities to testify about their handling of campus sexual assaults in the wake of the “Cornell 7” fraternity gang rape scandal.
Menin sent out letters Tuesday to leaders of local higher ed institutions — including New York University, Columbia University, Fordham University and the City University of New York — requesting their appearance at a Dec. 15 hearing before the council’s Committee on Higher Education.
“With approximately 500,000 students enrolled in over 100 colleges and universities across the five boroughs, New York City is one of the world’s great centers of higher education,” Menin wrote in a letter addressed to Columbia’s president Jennifer Mnookin.
“Yet campuses in New York City and across the country continue to be plagued with incidents of rape, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, and online abuse.”
Menin is asking for the university presidents to testify under oath about what actions they’ve taken to protect students from sexual assault and misconduct involving fraternities.
Other schools contacted by the speaker include St. John’s University, Pace University, The New School, Mercy University, Touro College and Yeshiva University.
A staggering 1,100 sexual misconduct incidents were reported across the 10 schools’ respective Title IX offices in the 2024 school year, according to state data.
Of those cases, six lead to expulsion, while 10 led to suspensions, said the data reported through the state’s “Enough is Enough” law.
The 10 universities receive more over $41 million in discretionary funding from the council, which the city hopes will play a role in convincing them to participate in the hearing.
Students and sexual assault survivors will also be invited to participate and provide testimony at the hearing, a council spokesperson said.
The council cited the shocking alleged rape case that’s rocked the upstate Ithaca campus and made national headlines as part of the impetus for the upcoming hearing.
The alleged victim, a former Cornell sorority girl, filed suit in September accusing seven men of being involved in a drug-fueled gang rape attacking her at a fraternity house in October 2024. One of them even disgustingly advertised “free p—y” in a fraternity Snapchat group, according to the suit.
The council also cited a harrowing federal case in which a man was accused of drugging a Fashion Institute of Technology student with fentanyl and raping her in her dorm room in March. She died in the hospital several days later.
“Rather than waiting for another scandal to occur, the Council is proactively calling university leadership before the public to answer questions directly about the accountability measures in place,” the City Council said in a statement.
FIT, which is part of the State University Of New York, was not on the list of colleges whose testimony was requested.
