Conversations between the president of Cornell’s Interfraternity Council and the embattled ex-president of the Student Assembly during the 2023 election season reveal plans the two had to bar criticism of Greek life from the S.A. floor and block resolutions pertaining to women’s health and gender issues.
Private text messages obtained by The Sun show how the then-IFC president and influential S.A. member George Rocco DeLorenzo ’24 — who was also running for executive vice president of the Student Assembly at the time — planned on wielding a Greek life “machine” in the Student Assembly to defend the interests of fraternities.
The Sun has reviewed a host of texts between DeLorenzo and Pedro Da Silveira ’25 during last year’s campaign cycle in which the pair discussed their vision and goals for the Student Assembly.
Da Silveira — who was elected president of the Assembly in May 2023 but was ousted moments after being sworn in due to a Title IX allegation which he was later found not responsible for — said the two were campaigning together during a period in which DeLorenzo knew about the allegation.
On Feb. 20, 2023, Da Silveira confided in DeLorenzo that a former sexual partner was creating a record of accusations against him and asked for advice. DeLorenzo responded by telling Da Silveira to report the accuser’s behavior as harassment to the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX to “get the first mover advantage.” The two continued to message about Da Silveira’s allegation over the next month.
In February 2023, DeLorenzo messaged Da Silveira that a “machine greek life sweep” was coming that would work to prevent changes to the Greek life system from being considered by the Assembly. When asked what the “mandate of the machine” would be for the upcoming year, DeLorenzo wrote: “Probably two rules – 1. Don’t do anything controversial 2. Leave greek life alone.”
DeLorenzo seemed to be particularly upset about the S.A.’s Resolution 16: Condemning Greek Life. The resolution — written in the wake of the suspension of all Cornell fraternities over sexual assault and drugging allegations in November 2022 — called fraternities “misogynistic, racist and transphobic institutions that perpetuate sexual assault and harassment.”
The day after the resolution was adopted in December 2022, DeLorenzo told Da Silveira that the “SA will definitely look different next semester” and that the resolution was targeted hate speech.
DeLorenzo also appeared to take issue with certain women’s health-related resolutions. He told Da Silveira in February 2023 that he “just can’t morally support a Plan B vending machine,” referring to a resolution that supported a pilot program to create a vending machine with emergency contraception.
“All I gotta say is under the machine greek life sweep coming, this stuff wouldn’t ever make it to the floor,” DeLorenzo wrote, referring to the Plan B vending machine proposal.
In an April 21, 2023, text, DeLorenzo told Da Silveira not to campaign on providing free date rape drug testing kits to fraternities through Cornell Health. “As promised everything Frat will be kept out of the mouth of the SA so if you feel strongly I can cut it,” Da Silveira wrote.
DeLorenzo responded that since date rape drugs at fraternities were no longer a focus on campus, it was best to not bring it up and that there were “other ways to get the female vote.” DeLorenzo also raised concerns about the effectiveness of the test kits.
DeLorenzo seemed to take issue with the Gender Justice Advocacy Coalition’s initiative of providing free menstrual products in restrooms across campus. On March 13, 2023, he wrote to Da Silveira: “If I see any more tampons in the men’s room, I’m going to lose it. Such a waste of money. … I’ll tell them to their face, there are only two genders.”
Last semester, DeLorenzo, as S.A. vice president of finance, recommended that the GJAC receive a decrease in funding due to the lack of quantitative data supporting the usage of free menstrual products across campus bathrooms, though that decision was reversed following extensive student testimonials.
On March 19, 2023, DeLorenzo called Da Silveira to say he wanted to run as his executive vice president, according to Da Silveira. Da Silveira’s call record indicates they spoke on the phone, but The Sun could not independently confirm the specific content of their conversation.
In a text message hours later, Da Silveira told Clyde Lederman ’26 — who was on the executive board of the Cornell Democrats and served as the legislative clerk for the Office of the Assemblies at the time — that he was “willing to take bat for [DeLorenzo] entirely” and that “[DeLorenzo] can confidently claim that he can whip however many votes from his ifc ppl (sic).”
When asked what DeLorenzo is pushing for in the Assembly, Da Silveira told Lederman: “Something that CAN interest him is pledging to scrub ifc and Greek life from all platforms, speeches, everything. Nothing with Greek life will ever emerge.”
Da Silveira told Lederman on March 16, 2023, that they could put forth a “compromise consensus slate” that has a mix of Cornell Democrats-endorsed candidates, Da Silveira’s allies and candidates beholden to the IFC. Lederman wrote that there was “definitely a deal to be had here” as he needed fraternity votes for his Common Council run — which he ultimately garnered.
Toward the end of April, Da Silveira appeared to have lost the support of both the IFC and the Cornell Democrats. DeLorenzo — as IFC president — opted to endorse Patrick Kuehl ’24 (Fourth Ward) as the most “level-headed” presidential candidate. Cornell Democrats viewed Da Silveira as “unserious” because of his focus on student life as opposed to broader policy change, according to then president of the Cornell Democrats Javed Jokhai ’24.
The Cornell Democrats — who endorsed Kuehl for president — also endorsed both DeLorenzo and Claire Ting ’25 for executive vice president. When asked why DeLorenzo received the endorsement, Jokhai said that the Cornell Democrats wanted to honor his “commitment to the S.A.” and “abilities as a leader” in their endorsement rather than his “content politics.”
DeLorenzo did not respond to repeated requests for comment on this story, including about why he had a change of heart and came out in support of Kuehl despite having apparently planned a platform with Da Silveira. In a message to the IFC, DeLorenzo wrote of Da Silveira: “Compared to [Kuehl], [Da Silveira] is less level headed and can sometimes come off as a politician by saying things he doesn’t really believe to get people support.”
On May 9, 2023, at around 1 p.m., it was announced that Da Silveira won the presidential election with around 45 percent of the vote. In the following hours, DeLorenzo sent a letter to all Student Assembly member-elects, which openly accused Da Silveira of having sexual relations with a student while she “was in no state to be a consenting individual.”
Da Silveira maintains that he did not commit sexual assault and instead that he was a victim of sexual assault by the complainant.
Shortly after all members were sworn into their positions, DeLorenzo introduced a motion to vacate the chair and expel Da Silveira due to the nature of the allegation.
Lederman said he solicited the letter from a friend of the alleged victim after Da Silveira won in an attempt to prevent an accused assaulter from holding office.
When asked why he did not make the allegation public prior to Da Silveira winning despite having known about it previously, Lederman said it could have been construed as retaliation and interfered in the Title IX case, which ultimately did not find Da Silveira responsible for sexual assault. Lederman said knowledgeable members of the Assembly only planned to reveal the allegation against Da Silveira if he won.
In an interview with The Sun hours after Da Silveira was ousted, Lederman said he was under the impression that the runner-up for president, Kuehl, would become president under the charter rules. This was called into question due to a discrepancy between the S.A. bylaws and charter, with some interpreting that the new executive vice president should assume the role.
Ting — who was elected to the VP position — said she felt she had a strong case for becoming president over the presidential runner-up, but that she felt Lederman and DeLorenzo had an interest in wanting Kuehl president due to the nature of their friendships. One of Ting’s most well-known efforts as an S.A. member was sponsoring Resolution 31, a controversial proposal from March 2023 that requested the University mandate trigger warnings on any potentially traumatic classroom material.
A May 12, 2023 letter to the Student Assembly signed by seven members, including DeLorenzo, said they “feel that there exists no reasonable room for interpretation of the governing documents that would result in an outcome where Patrick Kuehl is not president of the Assembly.” Six out of the seven signees were endorsed by the Cornell Democrats.
Kuehl was appointed to the position on May 18, 2023. In addition to that position, he won a seat on Ithaca’s Common Council in November, after running a secretive write-in campaign and leveraging support from fraternities. The Student Assembly under Kuehl’s leadership has not yet passed any resolutions pertaining to the Interfraternity Council.
Clarification, March 22, 2023, 5:45 p.m.: This article has been edited to clarify that George Rocco DeLorenzo ’24 is the former president of the Interfraternity Council as of early March 2024.