Editors’ Note: This article mentions cases of sexual violence, drugging and other triggering topics. If you or someone you know is struggling, please refer to the resource list below. Read with care.
Editors’ Note: The illustration above was created by then Stanford student Jacqueline Kim in 2016, the Fire Rose Unity Survivor symbol is a visual representation of the strength, connection and resilience shared by sexual assault survivors.
A prevalent trope in the media, constantly reinforced by risk factors like age and social dynamics, is that college campuses are epicenters of sexual assault. But we know that it’s not just the universities. Sexual assault and the culture that feeds it pervade every level of modern society, from college campuses to the White House.
While resources for and awareness of sexual assault victims have improved as a product of successful social movements such as #MeToo and sweeping legislation like the Violence Against Women Act, there remains a fatal, glaring gap in accountability culture.
Focusing exclusively on retroactive, remedial action without addressing the institutional and societal conditions that protect abusers and rapists condemns society to repeating the vicious cycle. Most survivors choose not to report out of lack of confidence in the draining legal process that often leaves victims without justice.
When the president of the United States has been found guilty in a court of law of sexual abuse and has a history of close allyship with Jeffrey Epstein — yet is still allowed to hold the highest office — what does that say about our country’s true commitment to systemic change beyond mere lip service?
In September 2026, social media timelines exploded with the viral lawsuit against Cornell University and seven Chi Phi fraternity members, filed by the plaintiff identified as Jane Doe. Doe came forward saying she was drugged and gang-raped by Matthew Ingalls, Jonathan Newell, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Diego Sarabia, Scott Norris and Scott Kretzschmar in October 2024.
Many online commentators characterized the case as paradigmatic of sexism and rape culture in American society. The case drew sharp ire regarding the university’s Title IX investigation and local law enforcement’s failure to take meaningful action.
According to the lawsuit, Cornell allowed some of the accused rapists to “mitigate their conduct by submitting essays” — though Cornell disputes this claim. The prosecutor initially declined to bring charges after Cornell Police failed to include Jane Doe’s assertion that she was raped in their report.
Every year, the federal Jeane Clery Act requires universities that receive federal funding to publish a report detailing campus crime statistics and mitigation efforts, including the university’s prevention of and response to sexual assault.
Known as the Clery Report, UCSC Campus Affairs sent the 2026 Annual Fire and Safety Report to students on Sept. 29. Embedded in the report are figures indicating an increasing trend of sexual assault cases, with 118 instances of rape reported on campus in 2025 — an increase from 46 cases in 2024 and 24 cases in 2023 — more than tripling in three years.
Buried in a footnote, the report notes that of the 118 instances of sexual assault in 2025, 90 were committed against one victim by the same perpetrator over the course of three months. A separate footnote indicates that 21 of the 46 reported cases in 2024 were also committed by one perpetrator against one victim over a three-week period.
City on a Hill Press contacted the UCSC Title IX Office and the associate vice chancellor of communications and marketing Scott Hernandez-Jason, expressing concern about the rising number of cases. In an email to City on a Hill Press, Hernandez-Jason emphasized that “One incident is too many, and we want anyone who has experienced harm to know where to turn.”
While Hernandez-Jason did not further contextualize the numbers in the report, he reiterated that “[UCSC] remain[s] committed to preventing sexual violence with required training for students and employees,” and shared a list of campus resources available to students experiencing sexual violence. The resources can be viewed in the center divider of this piece.
The Clery Report only lists sexual assault cases that occur on university property. According to the Santa Cruz Police Department’s crime data for 2025, community members in the broader city of Santa Cruz affected by sexual violence reported a total of 55 cases across the one-year period.
The Cornell case brings to light both an institutional problem and a cultural one. In tandem with Cornell’s exposure, UCSC’s recent Clery Report raises countless questions, most formidably:
When the systems meant to protect students fail, how do we secure justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators?
A piece of the answer lies with The Cornell Sun, the university’s independent, student-run newspaper that broke the case.
When the 57 men in the Chi Phi fraternity group chat chose to enable, when Cornell’s Title IX Office chose to enable, when Cornell PD chose to enable, when Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff chose to enable, when Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten chose to enable, a team of student journalists led by reporter Cereese Qusba and editor-in-chief Sophia Dasser refused to let Jane Doe’s case slip through the cracks.
In their editorial titled “Cornell Won’t, We Will” that closely followed their initial 2026 breaking news article, The Sun’s staff reiterated their commitment to shedding light on what university bureaucracy buries or what law enforcement deems unimportant.
This is why student journalism exists — to amplify the injustices institutions around us are complicit in and attempt to hide.
Missing still from Clery Report numbers are all the instances of sexual assault that go unreported, stories that warrant the same outcry, the same demands for accountability and torrent of public pressure as Jane Doe’s.
Cases like Cornell’s Jane Doe exemplify what’s at stake when an investigation is underplayed. Beyond the unconscionable trauma experienced by survivors and a lack of consequences for abusers, silence fuels normalization.
It is why City on a Hill Press has, and will continue to use our platform to call out administrative failures and uplift victims of sexual assault and rape, both those who have been picked up by the media and those whose experiences have been swept under the rug.
It is why we all must continue to fight for a society where complicity is not a comfortable norm, and victims are not forced to carry the burden of a crime that was never theirs.
For those who resonate with Jane Doe’s experience, you are not alone, and it is not your fault. Help is available:
Campus confidential resources:
CARE: (831) 502-2273, care@ucsc.edu
Located in Hahn Student Services: Open Mon-Fri: 9 a.m. – noon and 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
CAPS: (831) 459-2628
Located in the Cowell Student Health Center building: Open Mon-Fri 8 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Mandated reporters:
UCSC Title IX Office: (831) 459-2462, titleix@ucsc.edu
An online report can be filed at https://titleix.ucsc.edu/
UCSC SHOP: (831) 459-4459, shop@ucsc.edu
Located at Porter College, in the Porter B Building: Open varying hours.
UCSC Police Department: (831) 459-2231, police@ucsc.edu.
Santa Cruz Police Department: (831) 471-1131 (non-emergency line)
In-person reports can be made at 155 Center Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
Other resources:
Monarch Services (888) 900-4232 (24-hour bilingual crisis hotline)
Victim/Witness Program of the Santa Cruz Count District Attorney’s Office (831) 454-2010 dao@santacruzcountyca.gov.
Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center (866) 269-2559 (24-hour domestic violence hotline)
info@wafwc.org.
