By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Cornell University’s Faculty Senate passed a no-confidence resolution against the administration’s handling of an alleged gang rape case involving students, known as the Cornell 7 case. Iris Pacman, a senior associate at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, took part in the Faculty Senate proceedings and says the resolution addressed the administration’s crisis-management response rather than the facts of the underlying allegation.
Independent journalist Michael Tracy questioned Pacman about the evidence behind the resolution during the proceedings. Asked whether she had reviewed text messages in which the alleged victim described part of the encounter as consensual, Pacman says she does not consider that evidence material to the resolution.
Pacman points instead to the outcome of Cornell’s Title IX process, under which two students were expelled for sexual assault and two others were found responsible for sexual misconduct. She says those findings are sufficient grounds to describe the men as rapists. Tracy asked whether an administrative process without full criminal due process protections justified that description, and Pacman maintains her position, saying students, faculty and staff felt unsafe with those individuals on campus.
Pacman’s comments were recorded during the Faculty Senate proceedings and later aired on Chicago radio as part of a segment on the Cornell case.
