Staff report

Bloomington, Ind. – September 29, 2026

The cases are elsewhere, but the issues resonate in Bloomington—and one of the people caught up in a Florida cyberharassment case was an Indiana University baseball player.

A New York prosecutor has reopened a criminal investigation into allegations that a Cornell University student was sexually assaulted by members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024.

The former student, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit this month against Cornell, seven fraternity members and other parties. She alleges that she was pressured to consume alcohol and drugs, became incapacitated and was sexually assaulted by multiple men at the fraternity house in Ithaca.

The woman was 20 at the time and reported the incident to Cornell University Police about three weeks later, according to the lawsuit. No criminal charges were filed after the initial investigation.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that his office will present the case to a grand jury for possible indictment. He assigned a senior prosecutor with experience handling sex-crime cases to review it.

Van Houten said the woman’s original 2024 statement described her drug use and sexual activity as voluntary and consensual, while the civil lawsuit presents a substantially different account. Her attorney disputes that characterization and says the original investigation was inadequate.

The lawsuit alleges that one fraternity member sent a message to a group chat suggesting that the woman was available for sex, after which other members allegedly entered the room. The claims have not been proven in court. Attorneys for at least two of the accused men have denied the allegations or said their clients did not participate in an assault.

Cornell said it conducted a separate Title IX investigation and imposed discipline, including suspensions and expulsions. The university said it cannot disclose individual student disciplinary records because of federal privacy law. The Chi Phi chapter involved has been barred from campus since 2024.

Cornell also formed a presidential task force on campus sexual assault. The task force issued recommendations in March involving education, communication and sexual-violence prevention. The university has said it supports the district attorney’s decision to reopen the criminal investigation.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/prosecutors-reopen-investigation-into-alleged-2024-gang-rape-cornell-university-2026-09-28

The Cornell case is part of a broader national conversation about sexual violence, fraternity culture and the online exploitation of college women.

A separate case involving University of Florida student Maddie Kowalski has been described by WIRED as part of the “burnerverse”—a loosely organized network of anonymous college-sports accounts that circulate rumors, sexualized material and personal information about women.

Kowalski said a nonconsensual explicit video involving her was circulated online after she was filmed during encounters in which she was intoxicated. Anonymous accounts later allegedly doxed and harassed her and her family, contacted relatives and encouraged her to harm herself.

The case has a direct Bloomington connection. A former IU baseball player, who was identified in police affidavits and civil court filings, was previously a relief pitcher for the Florida Gators. He later transferred to Indiana University and was listed on the Hoosiers’ baseball roster. Indiana removed him from the roster after the allegations became public. The player has been accused of sharing or helping circulate nonconsensual sexual material. Those allegations remain contested and have not been proven in court.

https://www.wired.com/story/burnerverse-maddie-kowalski

Three University of Florida students have been charged with sexual cyber-harassment in connection with the online campaign, according to WIRED. The case illustrates how conduct that begins around a college party or fraternity system can spread through anonymous social-media accounts and affect victims long after the original incident.

The online campaign also drew attention from sports-media personalities. WIRED reported that Barstool Sports writer Jack Mac amplified Kowalski’s name to his large social-media audience. In a related case involving University of Mississippi student Mary Kate Cornett, former NFL player Antonio Brown and sports broadcaster Pat McAfee helped push the woman’s name into national online discussion.

The role of sports media is significant because these accounts are not simply private conversations among students. Large sports personalities and media accounts can turn allegations, intimate images and rumors into entertainment for millions of followers—often before the facts have been established and without the consent of the people involved.

https://www.wired.com/story/burnerverse-maddie-kowalski

The Cornell investigation and Florida cyberharassment case come amid a series of recent incidents involving Greek organizations around the country.

In Madison, Wisconsin, police are investigating suspected hazing at an Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house near the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Police said about 30 partially clothed young men—believed to be pledges—were found in a basement covered in food, condiments and other liquids. Some reportedly showed signs of physical assault.

Two 20-year-old fraternity members were arrested on tentative misdemeanor charges of hazing and disorderly conduct. Formal charges had not been filed in the latest reports. UW-Madison opened its own investigation and said the fraternity had previously lost university recognition after repeated conduct violations but continued operating as an unaffiliated chapter recognized by its national organization.

At the University of Arizona, a fraternity was suspended after allegations that new members were forced to swallow live goldfish during hazing. The university reportedly investigated six fraternity chapters for hazing in 2026.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/28/university-of-arizona-fraternity-suspended-hazing

At Northern Arizona University, a student died in January after an alcohol-related fraternity event. Three fraternity leaders were arrested, and the fraternity’s pledge master was later indicted on a felony hazing charge.

https://wtop.com/national/2026/03/fraternity-leader-at-northern-arizona-university-charged-with-hazing-in-students-alcohol-death

At the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, a fraternity was suspended through 2026 while a criminal investigation continued into an alleged sexual assault at the house.

These cases involve different allegations and should not be treated as one unified scandal. But together they raise recurring questions about alcohol, hazing, sexual violence, peer pressure, online misogyny, institutional oversight and whether universities act quickly enough when students report misconduct.

Bloomington has had its own recent hazing case. In August, seven Indiana University members of Phi Kappa Psi were charged with felony hazing stemming from an October 2025 incident in which pledges were allegedly forced to perform strenuous exercises for nearly three hours, enter ice water and complete degrading assignments. Two pledges were hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis, a potentially dangerous condition caused by muscle breakdown. Court documents allege that fraternity members organized the event and that one member later pressured a pledge to mislead medical personnel and delete messages. The fraternity was placed on a cease-and-desist order, and the criminal case remains pending; the allegations have not been proven in court.

https://www.idsnews.com/article/2026/08/7-fraternity-members-at-iu-face-felony-charges-for-hazing

As of IU’s current 2026–27 disciplinary-status list, these Greek organizations are on cease and desist—listed by IU as “suspension of all organization activities”:

• Beta Theta Pi — effective Sept. 25, 2026; hazing and failure to comply
• Delta Tau Delta — effective Sept. 17, 2026; hazing
• Phi Kappa Psi — effective Oct. 21, 2025; hazing
• Pi Kappa Phi — effective Sept. 25, 2026; hazing and physical abuse
• Theta Chi — effective Sept. 16, 2026; hazing

IU says cease and desist is an interim measure used when there is an immediate threat or an ongoing investigation.

The university’s list also includes the Palestine Solidarity Committee, but it is not a Greek organization.

For survivors of sexual assault in Indiana, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 800-656-HOPE.