Ithaca council passes moratorium on new Cornell events permits, calls for city police to handle sexual violence cases

The Ithaca Common Council voted Wednesday night to pass a temporary moratorium on special events permits at Cornell University and called on the school to hand over investigations into "violent sex crimes" to the Ithaca Police Department.

The moratorium will apply to Cornell University, its residential and nonresidential sorority and fraternity organizations, general student organizations, and university student affiliations, according to Ithaca's mayor, Robert Cantelmo.

Effective immediately, the city will not issue new permits to the affected parties for assemblies, parades, special events and noise. The moratorium, which is set to expire on Nov. 5, passed by a 9-1 vote and is designed so that the council can choose to renew it on a monthly basis. 

Cantelmo said the council adopted the moratorium "based on substantial concerns for the safety, health, and welfare of the residents of, and visitors to, the city of Ithaca."

The council also amended the moratorium Wednesday night to include a resolution "that the city calls upon Cornell to hand over investigation of violent sex crimes" to the Ithaca Police Department.

Cantelmo said the city is demanding the school do more to "punish, monitor transparently and prevent sexual violence on campus."

The mayor proposed the moratorium on campus events in the wake of a civil lawsuit filed last month by a former Cornell student, Jane Doe, who alleged she was drugged and gang-raped by seven fraternity brothers at the Chi Phi house in October 2024.

She reported the alleged assault to the Cornell University Police Department three weeks later. The department turned over a summary of her allegations in a sworn statement to the district attorney, who decided not to pursue charges. Ithaca Police say they were not informed of the case.

In response to an investigation by Cornell's Title IX office, the school said that two of the men were expelled, two were suspended for at least two semesters, one had already graduated before any punishment could be handed down, and two were found not to be responsible for sexual misconduct.

After the woman filed her lawsuit and details of the allegations became public, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to review the case. 

On Cornell's campus, students have held rallies and protests to express anger with the school administration's handling of the allegations, and to stand in solidarity with sexual violence survivors. On Monday, over 1,000 people, including students, professors and local Ithaca residents, gathered to demand change from the school. On Wednesday, more than 100 students staged a seven-hour sit-in at a dining hall. 

A 2025 survey conducted by Cornell found that more than one in three undergraduate women reported nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation since entering the school. More than 49% of respondents reported harassment. The survey identified campus-affiliated settings like residence halls and fraternity houses as the location of most incidents.

Cecily Cox, a graduate student at Cornell who opposes the moratorium, addressed the council Wednesday night at the meeting where it passed. 

"Parties do not cause sexual violence," Cox told CBS News.

She took issue with the moratorium's "ambiguity" and said it will affect more students than necessary.  

It "should not be for all students and should not punish all students who have nothing to do with what is going on with the sexual assault case," Cox said.

Cantelmo said the moratorium is not intended to be applied in a way that would infringe on any student's right to exercise freedom of religion, speech or peaceful assembly.

Other students, including Sam Poole, believe the moratorium is an opportunity for the city to put pressure on the school.

"Cornell's already feeling this pressure, and we need the city to keep this moratorium in place until they actually make structural change," said Poole.

"Cornell will not protect survivors unless somebody forces them to," Poole added. "I think the city of Ithaca has the power by threatening the thing they care about, which is their events."