> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.readtangle.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Uncertainty, morality, and the Cornell 7. - URL: https://www.readtangle.com/otherposts/uncertainty-morality-and-the-cornell-7/ - Published: 2026-10-07T16:37:26.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-07T16:37:26.000Z - Description: The allegations have raised difficult questions about sexual assault on college campuses. - Author: Carina Pacheco - Tags: #hide, take-only **Editor’s note: This article includes explicit descriptions of sexual acts and drug use.* When the Cornell story broke into the mainstream media, everyone had strong initial reactions. I was no exception: My overwhelming feeling was simply discomfort. This moment certainly feels like a social reckoning, where post-MeToo feminism is testing itself out. And while the MeToo era illuminated pervasive, reckless, and callously misogynistic cultures across the country, many critics argued too many women overreached and decided to cash in on the cultural tide of cancellations. Though it’s tempting to jump to broader themes, this situation requires looking at the facts by themselves — which is uncomfortable. Discomfort is a powerful emotion. It tells us to look away when we should look harder. On the opposite side of that coin is certitude, which tells us we’ve seen enough because we’ve found the side that feels good to be on. It feels pretty good to jump on the moral crusade bandwagon against the depraved fraternity rapists or the lying promiscuous sorority girl, doesn’t it? I’m skeptical of the assuredness on either side. The situation out of Cornell may be the most complicated alleged rape case litigated in the court of public opinion in my lifetime. This isn’t Brock Turner assaulting a passed-out woman behind a dumpster at Stanford in 2015\. This isn’t Brandon Vandenburg and his football teammates assaulting an unconscious woman at Vanderbilt in 2013\. On the other side of the spectrum, this doesn’t seem like the 2006 Duke lacrosse case, when members of the team were falsely accused of rape. The allegations here are messy. Everyone was drunk; they were all snorting ketamine off each other; some of them had sex together, some of them watched; she said yes at times, no at times, and claims she felt coerced into numbly saying nothing at other times. Everyone’s level of clarity appears to have varied from minute to minute, and the extent of those fluctuations is disputed. Not only is the moral line blurry, but it’s very possible for “immoral” acts to be legal. But when one of those men messages in a fraternity group chat that “Free Pussy” is upstairs, then another follows up to explain how brothers might introduce themselves — “Like you can walk in and whip it out” — and then the woman finds herself in a room with more men? That all feels… very different. Those messages don’t prove rape, but they are evidence of how some of these young men viewed the accuser: as an object. The messages, and the decisions to act on them, are reprehensible. | Get more of the story... We broke down the ban with just the facts, and then we picked out the best arguments from conservative, progressive, and independent writers in today's free newsletter so you can make up your own mind. [**Read them here.** ](https://www.readtangle.com/the-cornell-rape-accusations/) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | These pieces of evidence are unsettling, and they could ultimately combine with the claims about who consented when and create a guilty verdict in a court of law. Time will tell. In the meantime, loud factions in the court of public opinion have already acted as judge, jury and would-be executioners, some by doxxing the men and calling their jobs and threatening them and their families, all before any criminal conviction. An online swarm even [mistakenly doxxed and harassed](https://www.thefp.com/p/exclusive-cornell-harassment-frannie-block-lawsuit-served?ref=readtangle.com) someone with no relation to the case. I understand the motivation: Critics think the university didn’t do enough to punish these men, with viral claims that their punishments were reduced to “writing essays” about what happened. In reality, Cornell opened a Title IX investigation, expelled two students, suspended others, banned one from campus, and disbanded the entire fraternity — and, yes, some of the alleged assaulters wrote essays to the school. Essays and suspensions might seem like light fare against jail time for sexual assault and rape, but the county prosecutor [said](https://abcnews.com/US/district-attorney-reopens-case-alleged-cornell-university-gang/story?id=136806149&ref=readtangle.com#:~:text=Tompkins%20County%20District%20Attorney%20Matthew%20Van%20Houten%20said%20in%20a%20statement%20that%20his%20office%20is%20considering%20whether%20to%20bring%20criminal%20charges%20related%20to%20the%20incident%2C%20though%20he%20said%20the%20allegations%20in%20the%20civil%20complaint%20are%20%22dramatically%20different%22%20than%20the%20woman%27s%20statement%20to%20police%20two%20years%20ago.%C2%A0) the initial statements in 2024 did not include allegations of rape. Simply put: This story is more complicated than Cornell dropping the ball or letting the accused off easy. Do I think that the accuser was violated? Yes. Do those violations amount to sexual assault or even rape? In my opinion (and, apparently, Cornell’s), the answer is also yes. But the repercussions for the alleged perpetrators should range in severity based on the individual actions of the accused. Even after the claims percolating online — that an unconscious girl was violently gang-raped by a group of seven men — were contradicted by the woman’s own accounts, finding the accused guilty in a court of law wouldn’t satisfy the people urging us to “[Castrate the Cornell 7](https://x.com/Sunday1994band/status/2107162612513546526?s=20&ref=readtangle.com).” Their goal is not justice; it is white-hot, tunnel-vision revenge. Even the newly appointed special prosecutor Letitia James has made social media [posts](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/letitia-james-special-prosecutor-cornell-university/?ref=readtangle.com#:~:text=%22Before%20she%20was%20appointed%20special%20prosecutor%2C%20Attorney%20General%20James%20publicly%20described%20what%20Jane%20Doe%20was%20%27forced%20to%20endure%27%20as%20%27horrific%20and%20unacceptable%2C%27%20said%20she%20was%20holding%20her%20%27in%20my%20heart%20and%20in%20my%20prayers%2C%27%20and%20told%20her%20and%20%27all%20survivors%2C%27%20%27We%20stand%20with%20you.%27%22) that presume the alleged assault is fact. We can simultaneously confront cases of sexual assault and institutions or norms that defend it while also examining the other social elements at play. We *could* reevaluate social acceptance of cultural forces like porn, hookup culture, drugs and alcohol that cloud people’s judgment, but we don’t, because it’s uncomfortable. As onlookers, we *could* avoid rushing to conclusions on complicated cases and doubling down when honest analysis doesn’t match up with our preferred “side” of the story, but we rush in anyway, because it’s satisfying. I keep wondering about the role porn plays in sexual encounters like the one described here. Sexual promiscuity and experimentation have always been a thing, but now the most extreme possibilities [are mainstream](https://www.readtangle.com/how-dangerous-is-porn/) instead of fringe and more accessible than ever. At the risk of sounding like a total prude, how else do young men come to believe that women are receptive to sexual encounters involving multiple unfamiliar male partners? How did young women come to believe that young men wanted such scenarios? Where else would they get the idea that it’s “hot” to take turns on the same partner? Porn narratives rarely consider awkward post-orgy social interactions — so I’m not surprised that there was minimal regard given to how this might play out on the quad the next day. At the intersection of porn consumption and longstanding college drunken hookup culture is the idea that sex means nothing or is consequence-free. We want to pretend there is no stigma around casual sex and that the “free love” principle is applied to men and women evenly, but it is not. And when alcohol and drugs are involved, questions about responsibility and accountability become even more contentious. If the act is outlandish but consensual, the woman bears the pariah status of “slut.” If the act was at any point non-consensual, now she’s a rape accuser who immediately becomes the subject of skepticism or scorn. If she actually manages to prove she was a victim, she’s the subject of pity or even a martyr. And if the accused are acquitted, both parties become irrevocably tarnished. There’s no clean “win” in any scenario after an event like this, especially not for her. Our society needs to recalibrate and be honest about *all* of the factors that lead to these horrible stories. It’s not victim blaming to tell your daughter to watch how much she drinks and be defensive of her body. It’s not “woke” to tell your son that real men do not use women as toys. It’s not prudish to tell teenagers that porn is not real life, that ketamine and vodka cloud *everyone’s* judgment. As Hanna Stotland [wrote](https://slate.com/life/2026/10/cornell-university-case-cornell-7-jane-doe.html?ref=readtangle.com) for Slate, “Every possible interpretation of the terrible night at Chi Phi leads to the same conclusion: Everybody would be better off if it had never happened.” Deep inside the web of conflicting testimony and recollections and lawsuits and countersuits is a legal question that remains very much unresolved. But it is a question for a jury to decide in a court of law, not for me or any online mob to answer. Justice is not one-size-fits-all. It’s not reserved for one party on one side of a lawsuit. Justice seeks to find the truth and uphold the law, and the accuser and the accused all deserve to see that happen. I certainly hope that this question sees its day in court, and I hope we will all be ready to push past our discomfort, reject urges for self-satisfaction, and look the truth in the eye when that day comes. Moved by the take? Share it! ## Join Tangle for free Get perspectives from across the political spectrum on today's most important issues, delivered directly to your inbox. Subscribe for Free Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.