Annual Security Report Reveals Increased Incidence of On-Campus Rape, Hate Crimes

Editor’s Note: This story discusses sexual assault, rape and ethnicity-based crime on campus.

Cornell’s 2024 Annual Security Report and Annual Fire Safety Report reveal continued increases in on-campus occurrences of rape, hate crimes and arson, among other offenses.

Under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, all institutions of higher education across the country are required to prepare, publish and distribute campus crime statistics on a narrowly defined set of offenses. Cornell sent out its 32-page report Wednesday morning.

The Sun compared this year’s findings with those of the University’s 2021 Annual Security Report to identify potential trends in campus crime over the last six years.

Sexual Assault and Violence Against Women Act Offenses

Last year’s increase in on-campus rapes comes after that number more than tripled from seven in 2021 to 25 in 2022. 28 on-campus rapes were documented in 2023. According to the report, no instances of rape were reported in 2023 in noncampus buildings, which include houses owned by fraternities and other student organizations officially recognized by the University. Five such offenses were reported in 2022.

After at least four reports of drugging incidents and a sexual assault allegation in November 2022, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) temporarily suspended all fraternity parties and social events. The ban was extended throughout the fall semester and lifted in January, 2023, announced along with the implementation of sexual violence prevention and enhanced risk management measures among the IFC community.

Forty on-campus occurrences of stalking were reported in 2023, the greatest number within the last six years. Cornell saw slight decreases in dating violence and fondling, with 22 and 35 reports, respectively. Domestic violence, which has recently accounted for no more than two offenses per year, was reported seven times in 2023.

Nine other reports of Clery Act offenses were made in 2023 with no provided location — four rapes, one fondling, one stalking and three dating violence incidents. 24 more sexual assault reports were made for which no offense was specified — three on campus, two in residential facilities, two off campus and 17 for which no location was identified.

The notable dips in reported crimes in 2020 and 2021 may be attributed to reductions in student activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. All Cornell students were virtual from March 13, 2020 until the end of the Spring 2020 semester. Some students returned to campus in Fall 2020, but student gatherings were inhibited by strict University regulations. Heading into the Fall 2021 semester, most of these regulations had been rolled back.

Hate Crimes

Nine Clery Act reportable hate crimes occurred in 2023 — one race-based intimidation, seven ethnicity-based intimidations and one ethnicity-based vandalism. This makes 2023 the only year within the last six during which more than one race- or ethnicity-based hate crime was reported.

2023’s uptick in ethnicity-based crime reports coincided with booming campus tensions after the start of the Israel-Hamas War. The “extraordinary stress” that followed antisemitic threats, an unfounded weapon sighting and near-daily demonstrations prompted former University President Martha Pollack to cancel classes in the name of a Community Day on Nov. 3, 2023.

One case of intimidation in 2023 came when former Cornell student Patrick Dai ’24 faced the federal charge of posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications. On Oct. 28, 2023 and Oct. 29, 2023, Dai posted anonymous threats targeting Cornell’s Jewish community. Following his sentencing in August, Dai now faces 21 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

One notable Clery Act reportable hate crime offense listed within the last six years was a race-based aggravated assault charge in 2018, when a man physically assaulted three Cornell students and used racial epithets in a Collegetown altercation.

Earlier that same academic year, a Cornell student was charged with attempted assault in the third degree as a hate crime after allegedly punching a Black Cornell junior in the face in September 2017. After John Greenwood ’20 pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and admitted to using an anti-Black slur, the hate crime charge was ultimately dropped in a case that made national headlines.

Arson and Unintentional Fires

Released in tandem with the Security Report was the 2024 Annual Fire Safety Report, which details the University’s fire safety policies and logs all fires occurring in on-campus housing facilities over the last three years.

Of the 13 intentional on-campus housing facility fires recorded in 2023, nine occurred in Mary Donlon Hall, totaling $466 in damages. The incident that caused the greatest property damage was a May 20, 2023 fire on the fourth floor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall, where a pile of clothes was found aflame. The incident resulted in $17,000 in damages.

A Nov. 17, 2022 fire on the same floor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall during the same academic year is described as “stuffed animal placed in microwave.” This incident is listed as an unintentional fire.

The singular intentional fire reported in 2022 is the infamous trash room blaze in Ganędagǫ: Hall, which set off sprinklers at 4:42 a.m. on March 19, 2022. Damages, including burns in the trash room and water damage to adjacent rooms, totaled $14,000.

Several unintentional fires were also listed, with two occurring in 2023 and four in both 2022 and 2021. One of the unintentional fires in 2023 — a small flame in a trash compactor room in Flora Rose House — caused nearly $7,000 in damages. 

Cornell is the first of the Ivy League institutions to have published its 2024 Annual Security Report. The nationwide deadline for universities to release their Clery Act reports is Oct. 1.

Members of the Cornell community may consult with the Victim Advocate by calling 607-255-1212, and with Cornell Health by calling 607-255-5155. Employees may call the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) at 607-255-2673. An Ithaca-based crisis line is available at 607-272-1616. The Tompkins County-based Advocacy Center is available at 607-277-5000. To report non-emergency incidents, contact the Cornell University Police Department at (607) 255-1111. For additional resources, visit health.cornell.edu/services/victim-advocacy. 

Correction, Sept. 10, 3:15 p.m.: This article has been corrected to state that Patrick Dai’s federal charge of interstate communications was in fact included in the Clery Report under the hate crime of intimidation.