By Cristina DC Pastor
New York State Assemblymember Steven Raga, the first Filipino American elected to the New York State Legislature and a graduate of Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business (MBA/MS ’22), has filed two bills in response to Cornell University’s handling of a sexual assault case involving a student identified as Jane Doe and seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity.
Student Accountability Act
The Student Accountability Act would require students at New York State-funded colleges and universities to be held accountable to Title IX standards, including mandatory suspension or expulsion in severe sexual misconduct cases where responsibility has been established.
The legislation responds to concerns that Cornell’s disciplinary process resulted in insufficient penalties for some students involved in the case.
Organization Enforcement Act
The Organization Enforcement Act would extend accountability requirements to recognized student organizations, including fraternities and sororities. It would require institutions to impose disciplinary consequences for organizational misconduct, including suspension or permanent removal of organizations from campus, and maintain records of code-of-conduct violations involving campus-affiliated organizations.
Raga is also a cosponsor of Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz’s legislation (A.101), carried in the Senate by Senator Nathalia Fernandez, to close a loophole in New York’s sexual assault laws concerning consent when a person is incapacitated by alcohol or drugs.
The bill would prohibit defendants from relying on a victim’s voluntary intoxication as a defense when the defendant knew or reasonably should have known the victim was incapable of consenting.
“As a graduate of Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business, I am deeply troubled by how the university handled this case and the message it sends to survivors of sexual assault,” said Assemblymember Steven Raga in a statement. “No student should have to fight for accountability from the very institution entrusted with their safety and education.”
Raga said his two bills seek to ensure that colleges and universities hold both individual perpetrators and student organizations accountable for sexual misconduct, with meaningful consequences rather than inadequate disciplinary measures. “Institutions of higher education have a responsibility to protect students, uphold their rights, and ensure that survivors are treated with dignity and justice,” he said.
The controversy at Cornell University involving the Chi Phi fraternity has become a major national story about alleged gang rape, fraternity culture, sexual consent, campus safety, and the university’s handling of sexual assault complaints.
The case centers on a former female undergraduate student who alleges that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members at a party in October 2024. The allegations resurfaced nationally in September 2026 after she filed a civil lawsuit and authorities reopened the criminal investigation.
