Oneonta Student Democrats Host Protest in Solidarity with Cornell’s Jane Doe

Grace Diviny, Staff Writer

On Tuesday, October 13^th, Oneonta students gathered in the President’s Garden to protest sexual violence and assault on college campuses across the world. 

The event was held by Charles Miller, the president of the Oneonta Student Democrats club. Club members brought out a variety of signs that people joining in on the protest could use while marching. 

This protest comes in light of the current ongoing Jane Doe case at Cornell, in which seven  members of the Chi Pi fraternity at the prestigious university are being accused of drugging and sexually assaulting an unidentified student going by ‘Jane Doe’ in October 2024, resulting in her  dropping out of the college. While two members were expelled and Chi Pi’s chapter was permanently closed, the other perpetrators received lesser punishments that included a hand-written essay apologizing. This sparked controversy in the media, causing the lawsuit against Cornell to resurface two years after the lawsuit was filed.

At the President’s Garden were a few tables in which people could not only sign a poster in  support of Jane Doe, but give words of encouragement to her and other survivors on campus. Miller then called attention to the audience to thank everyone for coming out and gave his  regards to the guest speakers on campus. The first speaker was town supervisor Will Rivera, who has done state work around the country to improve intoxicated consent laws, a law that New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into effect on October 3^rd.  

He expressed his anger and frustration towards misogynistic behavior against women. He stated  that there should be an end to many things such as locker room talk, sexist comments, and harmful names to describe intimacy. He also addressed the situation at Cornell, calling it ‘absolutely horrific’ in terms of the harassment and threats the victim has received for speaking up about her assault. He also talked about passing a bill that could ban the involuntary intoxicated loophole that states that intoxicated victims can ‘consent.’ He then urged people to contact local representatives and administrators to get the law repealed before telling everyone that it ends with us. 

The next speaker was Dr. Shahin Kachwala, a professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies department at SUNY Oneonta who gave students a speech on how to spot and analyze the structure of sexual violence against women, which involved de-constructing gender norms and roles, discussing rape culture, acknowledging the patriarchy, and acknowledging female victims of all races, sizes, and backgrounds before telling us to rewrite the script on sexual assault and how to stand with survivors. 

Dr. Choe Diamond-Lenow was the third speaker, in which she opened about her own sexual  assault in college, losing two loved ones to domestic violence, and bringing up late Oneonta student Emily Finn’s murder as a result of domestic violence last year to highlight the systematic violence against women that is perpetuated, and expressed her gratitude for being able to tell her  story before asking people to join her in taking a deep breath and to appreciate one another in solidarity.  

Miller then opened the microphone for students to give a few words if they wanted, in which  some made chants for the protest such as ‘Justice for every Jane Doe’ and ‘I stand with you.’  Afterwards, Miller lined up all the protesters to hike through West Dorm Drive to Hunt Union to  march in solidarity, with people screaming the chants given as they marched up to Hunt.