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Former Cornell student's letter to faculty says president doubted her; Cornell disputes it

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 11 outlets across the spectrum.

15 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Stone wall with Cornell University lettering beside autumn trees, road work sign, and pedestrians on campus path.
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A former Cornell University student who has accused several fraternity members of sexually assaulting her in 2024 wrote a letter to the faculty senate saying that Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff made her feel “unsupported and disbelieved” and, in her secondhand account, questioned why she waited to report the alleged assault. Cornell disputes her account and says the characterization of the president’s reaction is incorrect. The Associated Press reports that her lawyer confirmed the letter’s authenticity and said it was sent for informational purposes as faculty weigh a potential vote of no confidence in Kotlikoff’s administration.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. She has accused several Cornell fraternity members of sexually assaulting her at a fraternity house in 2024.

    Reported byFar Left1Left4Center3Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost
    Left
    NBC News, The Guardian, ABC News, CBS News
    Center
    BBC News, PBS NewsHour, The Hill
    Right
    The Washington Times, New York Post

  2. In a letter to the faculty senate, she says President Michael Kotlikoff made her feel unsupported and disbelieved, based on a remark she heard secondhand.

    Reported byFar Left1Left5Center3Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost
    Left
    The New York Times, NBC News, The Guardian, CBS News, ABC News
    Center
    BBC News, PBS NewsHour, The Hill
    Right
    The Washington Times, New York Post

  3. Cornell disputes her account of the president’s remark.

    Reported byFar Left1Left2Center3Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost
    Left
    The New York Times, CBS News
    Center
    BBC News, PBS NewsHour, The Hill
    Right
    New York Post

  4. The faculty senate is weighing a potential vote of no confidence in the president’s administration.

    Reported byFar Left1Left3Center2Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    HuffPost
    Left
    The New York Times, NBC News, The Guardian
    Center
    BBC News, PBS NewsHour
    Right
    The Washington Times, New York Post

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.

  • President Michael Kotlikoff questioned why the woman waited to report the alleged assault.

    The woman, in a letter and a secondhand account of his remark, says he did so and that it left her feeling unsupported; Cornell disputes her account and says the characterization is incorrect.

How each side tells it

Compare views

Every side reports that the former student’s letter to the faculty senate says President Michael Kotlikoff made her feel unsupported, and that Cornell disputes her account. The main difference is emphasis: left and center headlines highlight the president’s alleged reaction, while the right’s AP-based headlines lead with her account.

  • the left

    6 outlets

    Left headlines lead with the woman’s own words or the president’s alleged reaction, such as “appeared to question” and “under fire”; Cornell’s denial appears in some headlines and not others.

    Jane Doe says Cornell president appeared to question her allegations in letter to faculty senate
    NBC NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    3 outlets

    Center headlines split: PBS’s AP report follows the woman’s account, The Hill leads with Cornell’s response, and BBC calls the president “embattled”.

    Cornell responds to Jane Doe's letter saying she felt 'unsupported' by university president
    The HillCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    2 outlets

    Right coverage here is one AP report run by two outlets, both leading with the woman’s account of the president’s remark and her feeling of being unsupported.

    ‘Loaded modifier“Cornell 7”Groups the seven accused men under a label tied to the allegation before any finding has been made.More neutral: the woman who accused seven menDisagree with this highlight?’ accuser Jane Doe says university president’s response made her feel ‘unsupported’
    New York PostRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    started a firestorm of controversy

  • Center1

    embattled

  • Right1

    Cornell 7

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded modifier

    embattledMore neutral: Cornell University president

    The label attached to the president pre-judges his standing before the vote has taken place.

    Ex-student says embattled Cornell University head doubted her gang-rape allegation

    Used byBBC News (Center)

  • Sensational language

    started a firestorm of controversyMore neutral: has drawn wide controversy

    The phrase manufactures drama in the outlet's own voice without adding a fact.

    The allegations have started a firestorm of controversy and prompted a criminal investigation as well as an independent review…

    Used byCBS News (Left)

  • Loaded modifier

    Cornell 7More neutral: the woman who accused seven men

    Groups the seven accused men under a label tied to the allegation before any finding has been made.

    ‘Cornell 7’ accuser Jane Doe says university president’s response made her feel ‘unsupported’

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

Words quoted from someone else (1)Hide the quoted words

Loaded words that outlets reported someone else saying. They show what was said, not how the outlet chose to say it.

  • Loaded verb

    Quoted

    silencing of Jane Doe's voiceMore neutral: faculty say they were not shown the letter

    Calling the withholding of a letter silencing presents a motive and suppression as established before the facts are shown.

    Cornell faculty member alleges "silencing of Jane Doe's voice"

    Quoted byCBS News (Left)

    These are a Cornell faculty member’s words. The outlets are reporting them.

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

6 outlets

Leads with

  • the woman’s account of the president’s remark
  • her words “unsupported” and “disbelieved”
  • the president’s alleged reaction
See the 6 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

3 outlets

Leads with

  • the woman’s secondhand account
  • Cornell’s dispute of that account
  • the president’s standing before a possible no-confidence vote
See the 3 headlines from the centerHide the headlines
  • The HillCenter

    Cornell responds to Jane Doe's letter saying she felt 'unsupported' by university president

    A woman known as Jane Doe who accused seven men at Cornell University of sexual assault at a fraternity house sent a letter to the school saying she “felt unsupported and disebelieved” by the Ivy League institution’s president, Michael Kotlikoff. …

    Read at The Hill (opens in a new tab)
  • PBS NewsHourCenterAssociated Press report

    Woman who accused Cornell students of rape says university president's response made her feel 'unsupported'

    Her secondhand account of the president's remark, which Cornell disputes, comes as faculty prepare for a potential vote of no confidence in the Ivy League school's leadership.

    Read at PBS NewsHour (opens in a new tab)

    Also published by HuffPost. It counts once.

  • BBC NewsCenter

    Ex-student says Loaded modifier“embattled”The label attached to the president pre-judges his standing before the vote has taken place.More neutral: Cornell University presidentDisagree with this highlight? Cornell University head doubted her gang-rape allegation

    As a no-confidence vote looms, Cornell says the characterisation of the head's reaction is "incorrect".

    Read at BBC News (opens in a new tab)

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the woman’s secondhand account
  • the president’s questioning of why she waited to report
  • the faculty vote
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • New York PostRightAssociated Press report

    ‘Loaded modifier“Cornell 7”Groups the seven accused men under a label tied to the allegation before any finding has been made.More neutral: the woman who accused seven menDisagree with this highlight?’ accuser Jane Doe says university president’s response made her feel ‘unsupported’

    Faculty members began debating the resolution at a meeting last Wednesday, where Kotlikoff faced pointed questions about the school’s response to sexual assault allegations and its oversight of fraternities.

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)
  • The Washington TimesRightAssociated Press report

    Woman who accused Cornell students of rape says president's response made her feel 'disbelieved'

    The woman who has accused seven students of raping her at a Cornell University fraternity house has weighed in on a looming faculty vote of no confidence in the school's leadership, saying the university's president questioned why she waited to report being assaulted - an …

    Read at The Washington Times (opens in a new tab)

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The New York Times, Oct 20, 10:09 AM EDT

  • Center

    4 hr 59 min later

    Its first report, Oct 20, 3:08 PM EDT

  • Right

    4 hr 26 min later

    Its first report, Oct 20, 2:35 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The New York TimesLeftOct 20, 10:09 AM EDT
  2. NBC NewsLeftOct 20, 1:24 PM EDT
  3. The GuardianLeftOct 20, 1:29 PM EDT
  4. The Washington TimesRightOct 20, 2:35 PM EDT
  5. CBS NewsLeftOct 20, 2:48 PM EDT
  6. BBC NewsCenterOct 20, 3:08 PM EDT
  7. PBS NewsHourCenterOct 20, 6:06 PM EDT
  8. HuffPostFar LeftOct 20, 6:58 PM EDT
  9. The HillCenterOct 20, 7:14 PM EDT
  10. ABC NewsLeftOct 20, 8:30 PM EDT
  11. New York PostRightOct 21, 10:37 AM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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