Newly revealed text messages have added another layer to the ongoing investigation into allegations against seven fraternity members at Cornell University.
According to the New York Post, a woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe exchanged a brief text with her roommate during the night of an alleged sexual assault in October 2024. At around 3:05 a.m., her roommate asked whether she was coming home that night. Doe reportedly replied with three letters: “idk,” meaning “I don’t know.”
The message has become a point of dispute in the case. A lawyer for one of the accused men reportedly cited the exchange to argue that Doe was able to read and respond to messages at the time. Doe, however, has alleged that she was heavily intoxicated and unable to fully process what was happening during the incident.
The text exchange reportedly occurred between 30 minutes and an hour after Doe says she had consumed alcohol and ketamine and was sexually assaulted by multiple men at a fraternity house. Her recollection of the night, she has said, became clearer over the days and weeks that followed.
The messages were included in Cornell’s internal disciplinary proceedings and have now drawn renewed attention as the case develops.
The seven fraternity members have been accused in a civil lawsuit, but none had faced criminal charges at the time of the report. The local district attorney has reopened the investigation following the emergence of additional information.
The brief text is now part of a broader dispute over the events of that night. By itself, however, a short message cannot establish whether a person was capable of consenting to sexual activity.