I very much doubt the house mother witnessed her drinking. It is a major violation of rules and the insurance policy. They post no pictures of drinking, even if they are 21.
My daughter had a picture on her FB (yes, back in the olden days) of her on vacation drinking out of a coconut. She was 15 and with the parents of friends in St. Maartin. The sorority social media officer made her take it down even though it was 3-4 years old and not illegal (i’m sure it wasn’t alcoholic). It was the appearance that mattered, not what was in the coconut.
Other daughter’s house had a rule that members couldn’t be at a frat event alone. She was at a joint activity, got sick, and had to be walked back to the sorority (or dorm, not sure where she was living) by two others, they made sure she was inside, and then they walked back to the activity without her. I do find it odd that Jane Doe left two bars alone and walked a mile to the frat house. That just wasn’t my experience when at school or my kids’ experience more recently. We went everywhere in groups.
No victim is ever at fault - but the reality is, forgetting the crime, people can practice prevention to make a safer environment.
When I was in my 20s, I was in Hawaii. Left my video camera in the back seat of the rental car. We went inside to eat. When we came out, the window was broken and my camera gone.
Leaving something of value in plain sight - I wasn’t deserving of being robbed but I put myself in a position where it was more likely to happen.
Today, we have a lot of fraud from being giving personal info to banks or government officials who contact them - except, they’re not giving their info to the banks or government. Again, they didn’t practice with preventative methods.
The allegation is not that the house mother “witnessed” her drinking. The allegation is that the house mother accompanied Jane Doe to a bar-- via uber- where Jane Doe was served more alcohol despite wearing a wrist band indicating that she was underage and could not legally be served.
Which is why the sloppy evidence gathering is so appalling. Taking an uber leaves a digital footprint. Getting into an uber means an uber driver witnessed that either Jane Doe appeared impaired or sober. Being poured a drink by a bar tender in a commercial establishment means more witnesses, a credit card charge for the drink?
There are hundreds of “violations of rules and the insurance policy” every single day in both fraternity and sorority houses. Hasn’t stopped the behavior up until now. Let’s see if the day of reckoning is here.
Are you saying that Jane Doe is lying? Excerpts from the lawsuit:
136. On October 19, 2024, prior to the event at Moonies, Plaintiff consumed Tito’s
vodka within TRI-DELTA NATIONAL’s Alpha Beta Chapter’s sorority house located at 118 Triphammer Rd, Ithaca, New York 14850, until she was intoxicated.
137. Thereafter, around 8:30 PM, Plaintiff took an Uber from ALPHA BETA
CHAPTER’s sorority house on CORNELL’s campus to Moonies Bar & Nightclub, accompanied by the Chapter’s Sorority House Mother, “Jade”.
Cornell house mother’s job is actually house director. Hence why the sorority is being sued. There is some chance of course that what is alleged is not true.
I agree - my point was, I put myself in a position. Had I put the camera in the trunk, this likely wouldn’t have happened.
Had as @twoinanddone noted - that the student would not be allowed at a frat house alone and even got walked back with at least two more, this maybe wouldn’t have happened.
It doesn’t make the alleged victim deserving of what allegedly happened, but if protocols like that mentioned were followed, maybe it’d have been a different result.
OP here - the fact that this thread has become a place where mainly men have taken over to argue about the nuances of whether the victim has sufficient legal grounds to bring her case is 100% indicative of the problem and incredibly disappointing (and not at all surprising). Thankfully, I have some of the worst offenders muted to spare me the emotional pain of reading it all, but…wow. Also, is the irony totally lost on these guys?
It is indeed ironic that we are now equating the allegations (see, I’m not accusing anyone) in this case with the loss of a camera which was not adequately secured in the trunk of a car.
It’s not that sexual assaults don’t occur in other countries. It’s that in other countries, colleges aren’t tasked with adjudicating sexual assaults. It’s a screwed up system with inherent conflicts of interest.
Yeah, I think there is a national reckoning happening across the country. I saw this come across my news feed.
Students protest Delta Tau Delta sexual assaults
Iowa State University students held a demonstration outside of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity house, shouting “Out with Delts” and “Hey hey, ho ho, all the Delts have got to go”, after multiple sexual assault allegations were released against its members in Ames, Iowa, Sept. 30, 2026.
The thing is, too many men just don’t get what it’s like to be walking around female. Elayne Boosler famously joked about the different ways men and women perceive safety and crime. She talked about her boyfriend wanting to take a midnight walk by the river in NYC. Decades later, I still consider it a perfect response.
"What, are you nuts? I’m wearing jewelry, I’m carrying money, I have a vagina with me
We women always have this “in plain sight,” supposedly tempting guys when we put ourselves in a position that rape is “likely” to happen. We can’t leave home without it. It sure would be nice if someday we didn’t have to worry so much about what could happen to it.
It’s also possible that some individuals (regardless of their gender) have stepped away from the discussion because it’s starting to go in circles a little bit. But that’s ok because that sort of thing happens when one is discussing a hot topic on a message board.
If this is inside a building such office settings, it makes sense. But there are many cases outside, such as in a park, on a bus etc. Fire would not make any sense.
