Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, New York. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Women, some citing their own experiences of sexual assault, are posting on social media that they are Jane Doe, in solidarity with the woman using the pseudonym in accusing fraternity members of raping her at Cornell University in 2024.

In ​a case that has drawn national attention, the woman is suing seven fraternity members and the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, among others.

And although ‌New York law allows “Jane Doe” anonymity for sexual assault lawsuits, the Cornell student has become distressed at attempts by some ​online skeptics of her account to discover her name and publish it, her lawyer said.

“I want us to support ⁠Jane Doe in coming to her own way of identifying herself in her own time,” said Twanna LaTrice Hill, a writer and actor in Denver who has declared #IamJaneDoe on social media in recent days. “And if she never does, that’s fine. But the flip side of that is that the people like me need to ‌speak up if we are able to.”

Efforts to identify accuser draws backlash

The woman, who was 20 at the time of the alleged 2024 gang rape, filed suit on September 16, prompting prosecutors to reopen a criminal investigation they had initially ‌closed without charges. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed the State’s Attorney General as special prosecutor in the case and on Friday (October 2, 2026) ‌faulted ⁠police and prosecutors, saying they had not fully investigated the woman’s allegations.

The accused men have denied all wrongdoing, the ⁠New York Times reported. Cornell has defended its handling of the matter.

Since the woman filed her lawsuit, some commentators have sought to learn and publish the accuser’s identity online, efforts that her lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, called an attempt to shame her.

“She’s not doing well,” Mr. Giuffra told CNN. “She’s under siege on social media.”

He said some women have been incorrectly identified ​as his client. “That’s been really difficult,” he said. “And she’s gone through a ‌lot.”

Much of the online support for her has criticized independent journalist and commentator Michael Tracey, who has expressed sympathy for the accused men over what he says is the harassment they have since faced. Mr. Tracey has also questioned the accounts of victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr. Tracey, who did not respond to a Reuters request for an interview, describes his effort to identify the Cornell ‌student as journalistic diligence protected by constitutional free speech protections.

“Let’s see if anyone has the ‘balls’ to name this Jane Doe so we ​can all evaluate her veracity, and that of her lawyers, since her lawsuit didn’t hesitate to name & shame 7 of her peers as gang-rapists,” Mr. Tracey posted on social media on Monday (September 28, 2026), one of multiple messages on the case.

Early on ⁠Friday (October 2, 2026), he posted what he believed to be the accuser’s name, which Reuters was unable to verify, before quickly deleting it, saying his point had been made.

“But please do not harass her, her family, or anyone else associated with her,” he wrote after deleting the name. “I’m serious. I wish her ‌no harm. I feel bad for her in a way.”

‘You feel like you’re on an island’

A post by Amee Vanderpool, who publishes an online newsletter on Substack, was typical of a number of messages and videos shared by those outraged at Mr. Tracey’s efforts.

“To anyone who is looking to find out the identity of Jane Doe in the Cornell rape case, look no further, because it’s Amee Vanderpool,” she wrote. “I am Jane Doe.”

Ms. Hill, 62, the writer in Denver, posted on Facebook this week about speaking publicly in 1990 about being raped when she was a teen by a youth minister who had counseled her.

“I was in absolutely no way trying to get other survivors to come forward or to ‌go public if they did not feel ready,” she wrote. “But I had hoped that as more of us coming forward, the stigma would be reduced. Perhaps it has ​in some small way, but not nearly enough. So I stand before you today simply to say: #IamJaneDoe.”

Katy Jacobson, a 35-year-old San Diegan who works with children with disabilities, said the hashtag can help survivors of sexual assault feel less alone.

“Because ⁠oftentimes you feel like you’re on an island,” said Ms. Jacobson, who added she felt fortunate to find support on campus when she was raped during ⁠college by a former boyfriend.

Some 21% of women in the U.S. report being survivors of completed or attempted rape, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.

At Cornell, 35% of undergraduate women reported experiencing ‌nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation since arriving on campus, according to a university survey conducted in 2025 and published on its website. That was up from 20% in 2021.

Ms. Jacobson’s posts direct people to organisations such as RAINN, which operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

“Even ​today, if you looked at my story, it has resources,” Ms. Jacobson said. “I’m not posting about the men. I’m posting about Jane Doe.”

Published – October 04, 2026 01:03 am IST

A new study has investigated the link between pupil dilation/contraction and memory processing during sleep. The study titled, “Sleep microstructure organizes memory replay”, published in the journal Nature and conducted by scientists at Cornell University, Ithaca, claims that pupil size while sleeping could indicate the memories you are reliving in your dreams.

Using advanced eye-tracking technology combined with EEG (electroencephalogram), the researchers monitored the sleep patterns of mice to record their brain activity. Notably, the mice were fed new information such as navigating the maze during the day and allowed to sleep at night.

Upon analysing the data, it was found that two substages happened during the NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. The pupils contracted in one phase, suggesting new memories were being replayed while pupils dilated when the mice were likely processing or reliving past experiences in their dreams. Both phases took place in quick succession.

“It’s like new learning, old knowledge, new learning, old knowledge, and that is fluctuating slowly throughout the sleep,” neuroscientist Azahara Oliva of the Department of Neurobiology and Behaviour told ScienceAlert.

Also Read | The Science Behind A Good Night’s Sleep: Sleep-Wake Cycles Explained

Creating new memories but not at the expense of other

The study helps find answers to why the creation of new memories does not erase the old ones; for example, learning to play an instrument without forgetting to ride a car.

“Our results suggest that the brain can multiplex distinct cognitive processes during sleep to facilitate continuous learning without interference,” the researchers wrote.

“We are proposing that the brain has this intermediate timescale that separates the new learning from the old knowledge.”

One of the key insights from this research is the brain’s ability to separate the two sleep substages which prevents a “catastrophic” forgetting of memories at the expense of previous memories.

“This finding provides a potential solution for the long-standing problem in both biological and artificial neural networks of preventing catastrophic interference while also enabling memory integration,” write the researchers.

The study results have encouraged the scientific community which hopes to see the results on humans that might lead to better memory enhancement techniques and also help train artificial intelligence.

Police in the United States have arrested a Cornell University students for allegedly making violent threats against his Jewish peers. The US Justice Department identified the students as 21-year-old Patrick Dai from Pittsford, New York. He is accused of posting threatening messages to the Cornell section of an online discussion website, including those calling for the deaths of Jewish people and a post that said “gonna shoot up 104 west”. The term 104 west refers to Cornell University dining hall that is located next to the Cornell Jewish Centre, the Justice Department further said.

Dai also allegedly threatened to “stab” and “slit the throat” of any Jewish males he sees on campus, to rape and throw off a cliff any Jewish females, and to behead any Jewish babies, according to Cornell University Police.

He was arrested after the investigators traced the deranged posts to Dai’s IP address at his off-campus apartment, NBC News reported citing federal complaint.

His family, however, believe their son is innocent.

“My son is in severe depression. He cannot control his emotion well due to the depression. No, I don’t think he committed the crime,” his father told New York Post in a text message, asking that his name not be used.

He also claimed that Dai sank into depression in 2021, one year after his engineering studies at the prestigious university.

At Cornell, Dai worked as an undergraduate consultant helping other engineering students with MATLAB, a computer programming language.

His parents said the man never had a history of violence.

“He was always very nice to society, well organised, helpful to my family and his classmates before 2021. He told us he lost his life goal and motivation. As parents, we tried to give him more love,” Dai’s father told the Post.

The US Justice Department website said the charge against Dai carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 (Rs 2.08 crore).

He will be presented before a federal court in Syracuse, New York, on Wednesday.

The investigation against him is being done by FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which includes the New York State Police.