A University of Florida student who was part of an extremely public case of harassment that drew millions of views on the internet is countering social media calls for high school students to stop applying to Cornell University. She claims the kind of behavior alleged at the Ivy League school isn’t exclusive to Ithaca.
“A lot of people are posting like, oh, everyone needs to stop applying to Cornell. This happens at every college,” Maddie Kowalski said in a recent TikTok video.
Kowalski says going through that situation has made her a listener for people’s cases who have faced something similar from strangers across the country.
“Literally every single one, I would guess, because I had a very public case,” she said. “Like, people DM me a lot, like, their own stories and, like, trust me, this happens at every school.”
@madskowalski The Cornell case happens at every school way more often than you would think
♬ original sound – Maddie Kowalski
Her words come after Cornell has been facing sharp criticism over a lawsuit by a former student who claims that seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity drugged and raped her at the chapter house in October 2024. The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in the court documents, filed suit against Cornell University, the fraternity, the seven men, her Delta Delta Delta sorority, and others on September 16. She reported the encounter to Cornell police in November 2024, but prosecutors didn’t file charges then.
In November 2025, when she was 19, a video she claims was taken without her consent was shared widely across the internet. WIRED reported that a hashtag with her name generated more than 1,200 posts in a day, and the content regarding her was viewed more than 8.5 million times.
Anonymous accounts on X, described as part of a college sports “burnerverse,” shared personal information about Kowalski and her family, and others sent her threatening messages. She dropped out of her classes, went back home, and sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, according to WIRED.
Gainesville police have charged three students at the university with sexual cyberharassment related to the video. Kowalski has also filed civil lawsuits against all three. While one of them pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges, the others declined to comment to WIRED. One of the three is also facing felony charges of sharing the content for financial gain. No allegations have yet been proven in court.
According to Ej Dickson, the reporter who covered Kowalski’s story for WIRED, nearly a dozen young women were targeted similarly in the burnerverse.
The Cornell case has escalated swiftly. According to Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, he will reopen the criminal investigation despite defending his earlier decision not to prosecute. He claimed that Doe’s sworn statement in 2024 described her drug consumption and sexual conduct as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual.” ABC News obtained the full statement and reported that Doe told the police that the encounter felt coercive.
The lawyers for the three accused men denied the allegations.
On Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order appointing state Attorney General Letitia James as the special prosecutor, saying new information has shaken public confidence in the district attorney’s ability to handle the case. James expressed that she was “ready to lead a process New Yorkers can trust.”
Hochul also called for an external review of Cornell’s response, and Cornell University has accepted the offer. Also, Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo suspended permits for Cornell student events.
While Doe’s lawyer has claimed that Cornell expelled two of the accused students and gave lesser sanctions to others such as suspension, workshops, or written assignments, Kyle Kimball, Cornell’s vice president for university relations, claimed that the school’s Title IX process was under attack due to a “false narrative” regarding minimum consequences. He fears that it may discourage survivors from reporting assaults.
The case’s repercussions are already being felt in admissions. As Cornell’s early decision deadline in November approaches, college consultants have told The Independent that some parents are reconsidering. Christopher Rim of Command Education informed The Independent that his clients were shocked by Cornell’s handling of the case. They reported that all seven of their clients who were planning to apply for early decision admission at Cornell had changed their minds.
Data from national sources also support Kowalski’s point. In a 2019 Association of American Universities survey of more than 181,000 students at 33 universities, 25.9% of the female undergraduates reported nonconsensual sexual contact involving physical force or incapacity to consent since they enrolled.
Cornell’s 2025 campus survey showed that 35% of the undergraduate women and 8% of the undergraduate men reported nonconsensual sexual contact involving force or incapacitation since they enrolled in the university. The two surveys were conducted differently and cannot be compared.
Cornell University also took a stance similar to Kowalski’s. In response to Hochul’s call for a review, Cornell said it shares the governor’s commitment to addressing problematic campus culture, a concern at universities across the country.
