Michael Kotlikoff calls the information about the rape "deeply upsetting" and says it will leave its mark on universities for many years to come.
"We as an administration and society must become better," he says in a video clip.
Kotlikoff promises to cooperate with the investigation into the incident, which is now led by state Attorney General Letitia James.
The case has shaken Cornell and the entire United States. Social media is calling for justice and reform of the university's handling of abuse, which is handled under the federal civil rights law Title IX. Students at Cornell have also reportedly called for the president's resignation.
According to the lawsuit filed by the woman against Cornell University and others in September, she was raped for nearly seven hours in the Chi Phi sorority house on the campus in Ithaca, New York. She was also pressured to use drugs.
The assault was reported to the university police in November 2024, but never led to any criminal investigation against any of the seven men named. Instead, the men were temporarily suspended from the university and were made to write essays to “reflect.” According to the woman’s lawyer, only two of them were expelled from the university permanently.
