How often are fights between Cornell students reported during the school year? About two or three are referred to Judicial Administrator Mary Beth Grant law ’88.
“They’re certainly not common, but not unusual.”
Four students were referred to the J.A.’s office for an incident last fall for assault with significant injuries. The case appeared on the Cornell Police’s Daily Crime Log last week.
“Because of the injuries it was classified as an assault,” said Capt. Kathy Zoner of the Cornell University Police Department. She said that all of the students charged were involved in the fight.
“There is nothing particularly notable about this individual case,” Zoner said. “It’s something that happens frequently enough on campus; people get into altercations, especially when they are under the influence of alcohol.”
The crime statistics available on the Cornell University Police website show: one aggravated assault on campus in 2005, two the year before and 16 in 2003.
“In a typical fight, people are intoxicated,” Grant said. “Unfortunately alcohol is a catalyst for most of the violence on campus, not only fights, but sexual assault and damage to property.”