by Adele

On Oct. 5, thousands of students and faculty demonstrated at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., protesting the administration’s mishandling of the “Cornell 7” case. In 2024, student “Jane Doe” reported to police that seven male students raped her at their fraternity house for hours. They gave her ketamine, a powerful sedative, and broadcast the rape on social media. In September 2026, she filed a lawsuit against the perpetrators and against Cornell for giving them lenient disciplinary actions.

WHAT PROTESTERS DEMANDED AND WHAT THEY DID

Protesters demanded the resignation of Cornell’s president, strict minimum penalties for sexual assault, independent criminal investigations, expanded survivor services and abolition or restructuring of fraternities. They demanded survivors and student groups be allowed to participate in restructuring the office handling sexual misconduct complaints.

Signs read: “We are Jane Doe,” “Ban the Frats,” “Stop Rape Culture,” and “At Cornell, Rapists are Safer than Women.” Protesters painted “Smash the Patriarchy” on an administration building. They held a seven-hour sit-in and walked out of classes, refusing to buy anything on campus for a day. 

On Oct. 8, a coalition of feminist groups, including the National Organization for Women, Women’s March, FEMINIST, Feminist Generation, and Me Too International, held a nationwide day of protest. Protesters called it the “I Am Jane Doe” demonstration, using the social media label “#StopSexualViolence: From the Frat House to the White House National Day of Action.” There were over 150 marches and other actions in at least 40 states. Protesters marched in Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, ⁠Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Students on 50 campuses held walkout demonstrations. It was especially impressive that so many participated in a demonstration organized in under a month. 

 In Washington, D.C., hundreds marched from the National Mall to the White House. Protesters’ chants condemned Trump for contributing to the accelerating rape culture by his vocal contempt towards women. Named in numerous sexual assault allegations, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse in 2023 in a civil lawsuit. 

OTHER RAPES ALSO PROTESTED

Demonstrators nationwide supported Kendall Francis, a Louisiana State University student challenging LSU’s lack of action after a football player raped her in October 2025. Demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles demanded a comprehensive review of its policies on reporting and investigating sexual violence and harassment. Women’s March executive director Rachel O’Leary Carmona stated, “In this moment right now, it’s students that are bringing us to a moment of action.”

Some signs addressed male behavior: “Educate your sons—Don’t tell me how to dress! Tell them not to rape!”

A sign held by demonstrator Ivo Becica read, “Men! We have the power to do better.” Male demonstrators discussed their roles in de-normalizing sexual violence by speaking out, legislating against it and educating the next generations. 

On Oct. 13, a march of hundreds through the Commons in Ithaca, N.Y., was organized by sex education and sexual assault prevention activists contacting each other through Instagram. About 15 speakers shared survivors’ testimonies and statements sent by Jane Doe and by Alva Jonson, Trump’s former staffer who sued him for sexual assault in 2019.

Jess Michaels, a survivor of rape by Jeffrey Epstein, spoke about the drafting of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. She said, “People are going to say things can’t change, it can’t be done, it’s impossible. That’s a fucking lie. We plan on being in this for the long haul, the beginning of the end.”

Several attendees emphasized the need for systemic change in universities and other institutions, not just removal of some corrupt individuals. (See “Editorial: Will protests of gang rape at Cornell U. start a movement?“) Many expressed confidence that this immense outpouring of support and determination is encouraging the building of a better society.