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Cornell retains Sally Yates to lead independent review of sexual assault responses

Cornell University announced on Tuesday that former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates will lead an independent review of its handling of sexual assault, including the October 2024 Chi Phi fraternity allegations.

7 outlets · 4L · 1C · 2R First reported Account updated
Image: ABC News
Image: Newsweek
Image: Fox News
Image: CBS News
Image: The Straits Times

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The story, neutrally told

Left · 1Cornell University announced on Tuesday that it has retained former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates to lead a "comprehensive independent review" of how the school prevents and responds to sexual harassment, sexual assault and related misconduct on campus. Left · 1The Special Committee of Cornell's Board of Trustees appointed Yates. Right · 1The review is to include a detailed look at the university's response to the allegations involving Jane Doe and members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024, including whether Cornell followed its policies and procedures.

Right · 1Cornell said the review will also cover how reports are received and investigated, student support, hearings, discipline and appeals, the role of campus police, coordination with other law enforcement and prosecutors, campus safety reporting, and oversight of fraternities, sororities and other student organizations, as well as the Board's own oversight. Right · 1Anne Meinig Smalling, who chairs the Special Committee of the Board of Trustees, said the Jane Doe matter warrants a rigorous examination but that the university's responsibility is broader, and that Yates and her team will identify where Cornell does well, where it can do better, and recommend changes. Right · 1Fox News reports that seven former Chi Phi members are accused in a lawsuit of drugging and raping a female Cornell student at their fraternity house in October 2024; the men deny wrongdoing, with some saying the activity was consensual and others denying they took part, and no criminal charges have been filed.

Right · 1According to Fox News, New York Attorney General Letitia James said on Friday her office is conducting an "active criminal investigation" after Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed the office special prosecutor, and student protests have taken over the campus this week. Right · 1Fox News also reports sharply conflicting accounts of that night, including differences between what Doe said in the following weeks, what prosecutors say they received from Cornell police, and the lawsuit filed nearly two years later.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left4 outlets

Framing
ABC News runs a short, developing-story brief on the appointment and the committee that made it.
Emphasis
Yates's credentials and the scope of the 'comprehensive independent review'.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not yet give the lawsuit details, the denials, the attorney general's investigation or the campus protests.
For example
“amid allegations of a fraternity house gang rape” — ABC News

Centre1 outlet

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right2 outlets

Framing
Fox News ties the appointment to a wider political and legal controversy around the Jane Doe case.
Emphasis
Conflicting accounts, the accused men's denials, the absence of criminal charges, the state investigation and campus protests.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not describe the review as the Board committee's appointment in its own text beyond quoting its chair.
Charged language
“political and legal firestorm”“explosive allegations”
For example
“The case has now erupted into a political and legal firestorm” — Fox News
“the explosive allegations contained in a lawsuit” — Fox News