How many more times do we have to watch the same ugly pattern unfold? Rape. Silence. Secrecy. Group loyalty protecting perpetrators. Institutions protecting themselves. And no structural changes.

We call on Cornell University to end its recognition and institutional support of fraternities. Enough is enough! Students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff, families, and Ithaca residents: add your names to this petition. Tell Cornell that you are done accepting the fraternity system as an inevitable part of university life.

Why lend prestige and protection to a culture of entitlement, sexual opportunism, and loyalty over accountability? Cornell should be tearing that culture down. Why the hell is it still propping it up?

We need to end a culture where privileged students feel unteachable where underage drinking and drug use are normalized, sexual opportunism is celebrated, and loyalty to the brotherhood can come before accountability.

We refuse to accept that every dispute about every individual incident must be resolved before Cornell can reconsider its support for fraternities, as it should have done long ago. The University can investigate allegations fairly while asking whether these organizations deserve its recognition at all. There is no excuse for indefinitely postponing that question.

Calling fraternities “independent organizations” does not absolve Cornell of responsibility for its own decisions. Cornell decides which organizations it recognizes, which may recruit through University-supported systems, and which receive resources and privileges. Other colleges have already acted. Williams prohibits fraternity participation; Colby abolished fraternities and sororities; Amherst bans fraternity membership, including in fraternities operating off campus; and Bowdoin prohibits membership and recruitment.

We demand that Cornell’s President and Board of Trustees:

• End University recognition of fraternities! Establish an orderly, transparent transition with a definite endpoint.
• End institutional support! Withdraw recruitment assistance, access to University resources and official channels, special housing arrangements, and other fraternity privileges.

STAY INFORMED. KEEP THE PRESSURE ON.

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