More than 100 survivors and supporters packed the steps of Colorado Springs City Hall, many dressed in pink, to stand with a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by seven Cornell University students. The Saturday morning gathering came amid mounting anger over how the university disciplined the men involved, with some attendees calling the punishment too lenient and others saying it was rushed through.
A Local Rally Tied to a National Movement
The crowd gathered as part of the nationwide I Am Jane Doe movement, according to koaa.com. Organizer Kaylee Armijo, who has identified herself as a survivor, said the event mattered because it told other survivors they weren't alone. “It shows all survivors that we're not alone,” Armijo said, per the same report. Samantha Olgren, who identified herself as a Jane Doe at the rally, said the gathering gave her a long-awaited opportunity to speak out about her own experience.
Other attendees pushed for systemic change rather than only personal catharsis. Sam Perez told the station that “laws need to change everywhere” so that victims can be heard without enduring retraumatizing processes just to hold someone accountable. Armijo went further, arguing that accountability shouldn't stop with the men accused of assault — she said it should extend to “not only the seven who participated in their actions, but the 50 that did nothing in the group chat,” according to koaa.com's reporting.
The Cornell Seven Case and a Reopened Investigation
The rally traces back to a case nearly 2,000 miles away. A former Cornell student identified as Jane Doe alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted at Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024, a claim detailed by fingerlakes1.com. The allegations have not been proven in court. When the suit was originally filed, the Tompkins County District Attorney's Office did not press charges, a decision that fueled the frustration now driving rallies across the country.
That changed last month. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten confirmed his office has reopened its review of the sexual assault allegations involving the seven former Cornell students and is preparing to bring evidence before a grand jury, fingerlakes1.com reported. Van Houten has not announced a date for that presentation or for any criminal charges. Separately, per CBS News, the case was reopened on Sept. 26.
Demands for Legislative and Campus Reform
Back in Colorado Springs, speakers used the platform to call for more than awareness. Rally attendees asked lawmakers to review Colorado's sentencing laws around sexual assault and to consider stronger penalties for repeat offenders, while also urging universities to strengthen prevention efforts on campus. Several speakers shared their own stories with the crowd, with one telling attendees that survivors are not defined by what happened to them and are not alone. Signs held throughout the crowd included one reading “Normalize Ruining Rapist Reputations,” reflecting the anger directed at men speakers said were given a pass because of academic or athletic promise.
Armijo described the current wave of organizing as an evolution of the Me Too movement, which swept the nation in 2017 after multiple sexual abuse allegations surfaced against film producer Harvey Weinstein. She said Me Too gave people courage to disclose similar experiences, and that the momentum behind today's rallies reflects people who are tired of waiting and ready to act. Forbes reported in 2023 that the Me Too movement has continued pushing for systemic changes to protect survivors in the workplace through updated law and policy.
Part of a Wider Wave of Rallies
Colorado Springs was far from alone. On Oct. 8, hundreds gathered outside the New York State Supreme Court building in Manhattan as part of a national day of action, according to Reuters, which described the demonstration as one of dozens organized on campuses and in communities nationwide under the banner “#StopSexualViolence: From the Frat House to the White House.” Several hundred protesters also gathered in the Ithaca Commons, near Cornell's campus, where roughly 15 speakers addressed sexual-assault law and shared their own experiences, according to the Cornell Daily Sun. Thousands more had attended a separate Justice for Survivors rally on Cornell's campus on Oct. 6.
Smaller demonstrations echoed the same message elsewhere. Dozens attended an I Am Jane Doe rally at the Monroe County Courthouse Plaza in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, according to Yahoo News, while more than 50 people joined an Indiana University-led protest at Sample Gates in Bloomington on Oct. 16, as reported by the Indiana Daily Student.
The Numbers Behind the Outrage
National data helps explain why the movement has spread so widely. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center reports that 81% of women and 43% of men nationwide have experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault during their lifetime, and that one in five women in the United States has experienced completed or attempted rape. The same source notes that reporting rates to police have fallen rather than risen — about 40% of rapes and sexual assaults were reported in 2017, a figure that dropped to roughly 25% by 2018, according to nsvrc.org.
