From the New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams, and this is The Daily.
An alleged sexual assault at Cornell has gripped the country and ignited a national debate over consent
and how universities respond to allegations of rape.
And now, documents reviewed by the New York Times help to explain what happened at the university and why the district
attorney initially decided not to pursue any charges against the men at the center of the allegations.
And so today, Deborah Kamen explains what we know about what happened at Cornell
and whether the systems in place are equipped to handle these sorts of complicated cases.
It's Friday, October 2nd.
Debra Kamen, welcome to The Daily.
Thank you for having me.
So, Debra, all week there's been this news building and building about a case out of Cornell.
A woman has alleged that multiple men raped her at a frat party.
And I just want to tell listeners that this conversation is going to get graphic.
It could be upsetting to some people.
So just to start, walk us through what happened to cause what has become this huge national story.
You know, Rachel, I've been covering sexual assault and sexual harassment for many years,
and I can't recall a story that has really gripped the national conversation like this one.
Before Wednesday, what we knew about this story was pretty bare bones.
We knew that there was a woman, she's just going by Jane Doe,
and she says in October 2024 she was raped at a frat house by several men.