The mention of Cornell in the student newspaper will come as a surprise to no one. It is, after all, Cornell’s very own student newspaper The Cornell Daily Sun that brought the story of Jane Doe to national media attention following the filing of a civil lawsuit on the 16th September 2026, claiming that the Ivy League institution had failed to adequately punish perpetrators of an alleged gang rape that occurred at the Chi Phi fraternity house on campus in 2024.
It has been reported, in fact, that the only punishment received by the perpetrators of the crime was to repent by writing an essay, which feels more like a punishment for the teachers who had to read the gibberish these abhorrent men were likely to have turned in. Indeed, it seems the university should have focused less on making students ‘turn it in,’ and, instead, turn them in.
You may be asking what this story has to do with The University of Edinburgh, and I too previously would have asked myself a similar question. That was, of course, until it was brought to my attention that Cornell is one of the institutions that Edinburgh has partnered with for their year abroad programme in 2027/28.
The fact that the ‘Cornell 7’ should trade in their lawsuits for orange jumpsuits goes without saying, but what about the message that Edinburgh is sending to students by voluntarily facilitating exchanges to institutions that let rapists walk free, and contribute to the perpetuation of sexual violence across their campus?
If Edinburgh really wants to pride itself on being one of the top universities in the world and the top university in Scotland, without upsetting its already less-than-stellar student satisfaction rating, management needs to open its eyes. A partnership with an Ivy League institution should not be an excuse to turn a blind eye to the safety of Edinburgh’s students abroad. Edinburgh should be boycotting Cornell for its blatant disregard of student care and well-being. CNN reports that numbers of prospective American students have decided to abstain from applying to the institution, so why should Edinburgh encourage it?
Can Edinburgh truly guarantee exchange students will be receiving the advertised description of Cornell as “the first truly American university because of its founders’ revolutionary, egalitarian and practical vision of higher education?” It seems to me that it’s not the institution which is revolutionary, but its own student body that is revolutionary in standing up to this outrageous injustice. If Edinburgh wants to claim this description as their own, perhaps they, too, should denounce this grievance and break exchange ties, at least until justice is served. But Edinburgh never has been good at standing up for the underdog, have they?
So, what’s it going to be…exchange or excommunication?
“Cornell University, Ho Plaza and Sage Hall” by sach1tb is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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A year abroad at Cornell: exchange or excommunication?
The mention of Cornell in the student newspaper will come as a surprise to no one. It is, after all, Cornell’s very own student newspaper The Cornell Daily Sun that brought the story of Jane Doe to national media attention following the filing of a civil lawsuit on the 16th September 2026, claiming that the Ivy League institution had failed to adequately punish perpetrators of an alleged gang rape that occurred at the Chi Phi fraternity house on campus in 2024.
It has been reported, in fact, that the only punishment received by the perpetrators of the crime was to repent by writing an essay, which feels more like a punishment for the teachers who had to read the gibberish these abhorrent men were likely to have turned in. Indeed, it seems the university should have focused less on making students ‘turn it in,’ and, instead, turn them in.
You may be asking what this story has to do with The University of Edinburgh, and I too previously would have asked myself a similar question. That was, of course, until it was brought to my attention that Cornell is one of the institutions that Edinburgh has partnered with for their year abroad programme in 2027/28.
The fact that the ‘Cornell 7’ should trade in their lawsuits for orange jumpsuits goes without saying, but what about the message that Edinburgh is sending to students by voluntarily facilitating exchanges to institutions that let rapists walk free, and contribute to the perpetuation of sexual violence across their campus?
If Edinburgh really wants to pride itself on being one of the top universities in the world and the top university in Scotland, without upsetting its already less-than-stellar student satisfaction rating, management needs to open its eyes. A partnership with an Ivy League institution should not be an excuse to turn a blind eye to the safety of Edinburgh’s students abroad. Edinburgh should be boycotting Cornell for its blatant disregard of student care and well-being. CNN reports that numbers of prospective American students have decided to abstain from applying to the institution, so why should Edinburgh encourage it?
Can Edinburgh truly guarantee exchange students will be receiving the advertised description of Cornell as “the first truly American university because of its founders’ revolutionary, egalitarian and practical vision of higher education?” It seems to me that it’s not the institution which is revolutionary, but its own student body that is revolutionary in standing up to this outrageous injustice. If Edinburgh wants to claim this description as their own, perhaps they, too, should denounce this grievance and break exchange ties, at least until justice is served. But Edinburgh never has been good at standing up for the underdog, have they?
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So, what’s it going to be…exchange or excommunication?
“Cornell University, Ho Plaza and Sage Hall” by sach1tb is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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