Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly condemned Cornell University’s handling of an alleged gang rape that took place on the school’s campus in 2024, and urged Penn to strengthen its own sexual violence resources.
In a Sept. 28 email to undergraduate students, College senior and UA President Musab Chummun called Cornell’s response to the incident an “act of complicity and cowardice.” Chummun also announced a new UA committee on sexual assault prevention and awareness aimed at improving Penn’s existing policies and reducing violence on campus.
“This tragic event reflects a broader reality across higher education, and Penn is no exception,” Chummun wrote. “As a community, it is important that we stand by survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.”
On Sept. 16, a former Cornell student filed a lawsuit alleging that she was coerced into consuming drugs and sexually assaulted by multiple men at the university’s Chi Phi fraternity. According to the complaint, Cornell offered the defendants the opportunity to submit essays “to mitigate their conduct.”
“None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement,” Cornell said in a Monday statement, adding that some of the involved students were suspended or expelled.
In addition to the ad hoc committee, the UA plans to improve and mandate “interpersonal violence prevention training” and coordinate with Cornell’s student government to develop additional student protections.
Chummun also announced the UA’s intention to form a student-led task force to guide Penn’s Center for Civil Rights response to sexual assault. The office was formed in June and consolidated the University’s Title IX office with other administrative bodies.
Student representatives from Penn’s Abuse & Sexual Assault Prevention organization emphasized that student voices must be included as the center develops its Title IX policies.
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“Students need more clarity around the Center for Civil Rights, especially when it incorporates offices such as Title IX,” College senior Ashley Kim and College junior Nicolina Monacelli wrote in a joint statement on behalf of the organization. “We need to have opportunities to meet with the leaders of the CCR to highlight our concerns. Actions that directly impact students must also work towards being known to its students.”
While Penn shared details on the purpose and leadership team behind the center in a University-wide message earlier this month, Kim and Monacelli said “many lingering concerns” remain.
ASAP specifically called on administrators to provide “transparency” and “clarity” to students regarding the center’s Title IX work.
The group also demanded that Penn offer “increased support” for student-led initiatives that help prevent interpersonal violence and promote campus safety.
The University’s current sexual violence resources are primarily coordinated through Penn Violence Prevention.
A spokesperson for PVP wrote that the office “provides educational workshops on healthy relationships, consent and bystander intervention to more than 6,000 Penn community members annually.”
“When incidences of campus sexual violence reach the public eye, it’s a strong reminder of the importance of building strategies in our campus community that prevent sexual violence, while also ensuring that Penn students know how to recognize harm and seek support,” the spokesperson added.
The Penn Women’s Center also works closely with PVP to develop educational resources and “trauma-informed programming,” a PWC spokesperson wrote in a statement. They added that the center frequently supports student-led efforts, including Take Back the Night.
College senior James Glomb — who serves as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee — similarly highlighted the group’s goal of bridging the gap between different on-campus organizations by “making available resources, support systems, and reporting options more visible, accessible, and easier to understand across teams and athletic spaces.”
SAAC represents Penn’s student-athletes across the University’s 33 varsity sports teams.
“Sexual violence remains a serious issue on college campuses across the country,” Glomb wrote. “Students should not have to become experts in university bureaucracy to understand where to turn for support, what resources are available, or what happens after they ask for help.”
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Senior reporter Christine Oh leads coverage of student life and can be reached at oh@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies English and philosophy. Follow her on X @ChristineOh_.
