Cornell party permits halted by city, citing assault case

Officials in the upstate New York town that is home to Cornell University placed a moratorium on permits for some student parties as local leaders scrutinise how the Ivy League school handled 2024 assault allegations from a former student. Ithaca’s city council passed the resolution on the evening of Oct 7 in an effort to reduce the number of social gatherings “where sexual violence and gender-based harassment proliferate”.The moratorium on new permits will last until at least Nov 5 and would apply to Cornell and its affiliates, including fraternities, sororities and off-campus housing affiliated with Cornell clubs and organisations.Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo announced the proposal in a statement last week, saying that Cornell “failed to hold the perpetrators to account” and vowing to act until the university revamps its sexual assault protocols.“The onus of responsibility and safety lies with the university,” Cantelmo said during the council meeting. “If the city is going to say that, as a blanket matter, these university events are safe, we need reassurances from the university that they are.”Cantelmo also said he had been negotiating with Cornell for Ithaca’s local police to receive more information about incidents of alleged violent crimes and sex crimes on campus.The council’s resolution referenced a Cornell survey released in 2025, in which 49% of respondents reported experiencing sexual or gender-based harassment and 15% reported experiencing non-consensual sexual contact since entering Cornell.In mid-September, a former Cornell student, identified in court records as Jane Doe, alleged in a civil lawsuit she was drugged and raped in October 2024 by Cornell fraternity members. The plaintiff alleged in her complaint that Cornell, the fraternity and her former sorority failed to protect her.Before the council’s vote, about a dozen public commenters, including Cornell students and Ithaca residents, expressed support for the moratorium. Many suggested it would push for changes at the university.“I strongly urge the city of Ithaca pass this moratorium in the name of justice,” said Max Fan, a graduate student and steward for Cornell’s graduate workers union. “By doing so, you also empower the student voices of Cornell that are crying for help.”Representatives of Cornell’s Graduate and Professional Student Assembly questioned the scope of the moratorium, seeking more information about which students, permits and events might be impacted by it.“The proposed moratorium might be overly broad and could substantially restrict student activities without directly addressing the underlying threat of sexual violence,” said Michelle Heeney, a member of the assembly’s executive committee. BLOOMBERG