Protests05 October, 20262 min read
Activists Smash Day Hall Door, Spray-Paint Messages Over Cornell Gang Rape Allegations
Activists smashed a Day Hall glass door and painted messages overnight. Protests targeted Cornell's handling of the 2024 Chi Phi gang-rape allegations.
Day Hall vandalized
Anonymous activists broke a glass door at Cornell University’s main administrative headquarters, Day Hall, in the early hours of Monday and spray-painted messages on the building’s walls as backlash continued over allegations about a 2024 gang rape at a local fraternity. The Cornell Daily Sun reported that activists smashed the glass door at approximately 3 a.m. and painted messages reading “SMASH THE PATRIARCHY” and “AT CORNELL RAPISTS ARE PROTECTED PROTESTORS ARE EXPELLED,” leaving shards of glass littering the entryway and floor.
“Those concerns deserve to be heard, but damaging property is not the answer.”
The activists told The Sun that they wanted to ensure that Day Hall, “the center of Cornell’s administrative function, was not able to continue business as usual,” and they described their actions as motivated by “in protest of the global systems of power that allowed this to happen in the first place.” Cornell spokesperson Kyle Kimball said Monday that the university was investigating the vandalism and that “damaging property is not the answer,” while the protest was scheduled ahead of a rally demanding “justice for survivors” by student groups on Monday.
Rally demands overhaul
Students and faculty gathered for a protest outside Day Hall on Monday evening, with thousands of students and faculty members convening in an outpouring of anger after the school was sued over its handling of a 2024 sexual assault allegation.
Students marched to Day Hall, which houses the office of the university president, Michael Kotlikoff, after vandalism overnight.
Demonstrators held signs reading “Justice for every Jane Doe” and “Cornell admin betrays survivors resign now,” and they chanted “shame” and “resign” while speakers demanded change.
Sabrina Karim, an associate professor in Cornell’s department of government, told the rally, “Trust is broken at Cornell. It’s broken from the top down, and it’s broken peer to peer,” and Julia Chang, an associate professor in the department of romance studies at the university who identified as a survivor, said, “Rape should not be inevitable. Rape should not be normal.”
Pressure on Cornell
The protests unfolded as New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to investigate Jane Doe’s allegations, and the demonstrations continued alongside calls for an overhaul of Cornell’s sexual assault complaint process and disciplinary action. Student organisers demanded the “abolition” of the Interfraternity Council system on campus and the “expulsion/revocation of degrees for all Chi Phi members involved in the rape,” and they also demanded that Cornell’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards be replaced by a “democratic disciplinary system.”
The activists’ manifesto called for “the abolition of [Interfraternity Council] greek life on campus” and “resignation or termination of the named administration officials,” and it also included a demand for “expulsion/revocation of degrees for all Chi Phi members involved in the rape.” The protest came only hours after activists smashed the glass door and sprayed graffiti on the entrance, and the shattered glass door had been covered with a sign that read: “Entrance temporarily closed.”