New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin is inviting the leaders of 10 local universities to testify under oath about how their schools investigate sexual assault allegations and hold offenders accountable, setting an oversight hearing for 10 a.m. on Dec. 15 at City Hall. The push comes as new data show the same institutions logged 1,100 reports of sexual misconduct in 2024 but handed down only six expulsions and 10 suspensions.
The New York Daily News reported Menin's plans and a draft letter to university presidents. According to amNY, the Council is requesting testimony from the leaders of Columbia, New York University, CUNY, Fordham, St. John's, Pace, Touro, The New School, Mercy University and Yeshiva University. The invitations are voluntary, and Council officials said they hope the institutions will cooperate.
Cornell University and the Fashion Institute of Technology were notably left off the invitation list. A Council official told the outlet that FIT was excluded because its affiliation with SUNY limits the Council's oversight jurisdiction, and the Enough Is Enough law requires institutions to submit annual aggregate data on reported incidents of sexual violence and how those cases are adjudicated, per the New York State Education Department.
Cornell Case and a Student's Fentanyl Death Loom Over the Hearing
A former Cornell student filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was drugged and raped by a group of students in October 2024 and that the university failed to adequately punish those responsible. All seven men accused in that case have denied any wrongdoing, and the Tompkins County district attorney declined to prosecute in 2024, according to The New York Times; none of the men have been charged with a crime.
Cornell ultimately expelled two of the fraternity members, barred a graduate who had already left campus, and suspended two others, with the remaining men receiving lighter punishments, the Times reported. At FIT, federal prosecutors have accused 19-year-old Moises Freire of giving fentanyl to two students inside a Manhattan dormitory in March, leaving both unconscious and raping one of them. The case has been tied to the death of student Annabel Richter, who died after overdosing on fentanyl, while a friend who was with her regained consciousness after treatment.
Discipline Data Show a Wide Gap Between Reports and Punishment
The scale of the gap between reports and punishment is central to why Menin is pushing for testimony. Across the 10 institutions invited to the hearing, a formal disciplinary process was sought in just 129 of the 1,100 reported incidents in 2024 — roughly 12% — with no formal process pursued in the remaining 971, the amNY analysis found. Among the cases that did move through institutional disciplinary procedures, respondents were found responsible in 30 instances, with 15 additional sanctions reported short of suspension or expulsion.
Those figures echo a broader pattern documented across New York higher education. A seven-year review covering 26 large New York colleges found their Title IX offices collectively received 9,910 reports and launched formal investigations into just 1,295 of them between 2018 and 2024, according to Yahoo News. Of those investigated, 523 cases led to findings of responsibility, with 230 resulting in suspensions and 81 in expulsions. Eleven New York colleges and universities averaging at least 10,000 enrolled students per year did not expel a single student or dismiss a single employee for sexual violence over that same period, Reuters reported via the Lufkin Daily News.
Collectively, the 26 schools suspended one student or employee per 15,500 students enrolled each year and expelled or dismissed just one in 44,000, the Reuters analysis found. Cornell's own Title IX office received 1,216 reports of sexual violence from 2018 to 2024, formally investigated 162 and found the accused person responsible in 51 — but suspended or expelled the accused only 41% of the time the person was found responsible, compared with a combined 59% rate across the 26 colleges, according to Yahoo News.
No Legislation Planned Yet, But Questions Linger
Council officials said no legislation is planned ahead of the Dec. 15 hearing, but lawmakers could consider new measures depending on what they learn from the testimony. Spokespeople for some of the invited schools signaled early engagement: NYU spokesperson Wiley Norvell said the university is reviewing the letter and looks forward to engaging with the Council, while Columbia spokesperson Adam Stephan said the school received the speaker's letter late in the afternoon and was reviewing it.
Menin has said the incidents at Cornell and FIT highlight the need for safer and more supportive environments for students on and off campus, writing that campuses in New York City and across the country continue to face rape, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and online abuse. The Council has also invited students, sexual assault survivors and advocates to testify at the hearing, according to a Council spokesperson.
