Seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell University faced accusations of drugging and assaulting a former student in 2024. Following an investigation, the university expelled two students, while five others received lesser administrative sanctions, with names withheld due to FERPA. A civil lawsuit has been filed, naming all seven accused fraternity members, but no arrests have been made.

Seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell University faced accusations of drugging and assaulting a former student in 2024. Following an investigation, the university expelled two students, while five others received lesser administrative sanctions, with names withheld due to FERPA. A civil lawsuit has been filed, naming all seven accused fraternity members, but no arrests have been made.

Seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell University faced accusations of drugging and assaulting a former student in 2024. Following an investigation, the university expelled two students, while five others received lesser administrative sanctions, with names withheld due to FERPA. A civil lawsuit has been filed, naming all seven accused fraternity members, but no arrests have been made.

Seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity were accused of drugging and assaulting a former Cornell University student in 2024. Following an investigation involving police and state authorities, the university expelled two students. However, despite the survivor detailing the assault and her experience at the fraternity house, five other members received only minor administrative sanctions.

According to the civil lawsuit filed by the survivor against Cornell University and seven fraternity members, all seven men named in the suit were Cornell undergraduates and active Chi Phi brothers at the time of the incident.

Why were the names of the accused not released? 

The university has not made the names of the accused public, citing student privacy rights.

Under federal privacy regulations—specifically the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)—universities are legally prohibited from releasing the names of individual students along with their specific disciplinary records or sanctions.

While the civil lawsuit publicly names all seven accused fraternity members—Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris, and Scott Kretzschmar—the filing and the university's public statements do not specify which two of the seven were subject to expulsion following the internal conduct investigation.

Cornell University released a statement saying, “Federal privacy law prohibits Cornell from disclosing specific information regarding individual students, and we therefore are unable to make a public statement on any other disciplinary response. Violations of university policies could lead to sanctions up to and including suspension or expulsion,” they said.

At the same time, the university noted that the Xi chapter of Chi Phi fraternity remained barred from the campus. 

According to Thomas Giuffra, attorney representing the survivor, the other five accused faced lesser sanctions, including suspensions, workshops or essays. 

"There were no arrests made in the case," he said. 

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