The woman, identified only as Jane Doe and 20 years old at the time, was a Cornell student when the alleged assault happened. She has since filed a claim against the seven fraternity members and against Cornell itself, arguing the university failed to protect her. Cornell ran its own internal investigation, but no criminal charges came out of it.
The Tompkins County District Attorney's Office confirmed Monday it will bring the case to a grand jury. The office said the move comes amid pressure from the community, and that it plans to present the evidence gathered so far.
For Jane Doe, the referral marks the first real shot at criminal accountability after a school investigation that ended without charges. Cornell now faces fresh questions about how it handled reports involving its Greek system and whether its internal review process did enough. As for the seven accused men, their case moves out of the university's hands and into the criminal justice system, where the stakes and standards of proof are different.