What happened in this episode?
Alex Cooper devotes this episode of Call Her Daddy to the social media slogan “I am Jane Doe” and the allegations in a lawsuit filed by a Cornell University student anonymised as Jane Doe, which Cooper describes as an alleged gang rape linked to a fraternity group chat. Cornell philosophy professor Dr Kate Manne, a feminist theorist and Cornell faculty member, discusses campus reaction, describing thousands attending a rally in support of Jane Doe and arguing the case has crystallised wider anger about institutional failures around sexual violence.
Manne alleges multiple breakdowns in Cornell’s response as described in the lawsuit: she says Jane Doe sought care at Cornell Health for a UTI and traumatic injuries but was not offered a rape kit; and she claims Cornell University Police condensed hours of testimony into six pages and removed Jane Doe’s statement that she was “100% confident” she had been raped before sending material to the local district attorney. Manne also questions Cornell’s disciplinary outcomes, saying two students were expelled while five others were “left free to graduate”, and argues universities should adopt a zero-tolerance approach to serious sexual misconduct.
Beyond the Cornell case, Manne recounts a separate student’s complaint about image-based sexual abuse and an allegedly dismissive response from campus police. The conversation also examines “himpathy” (sympathy directed towards alleged male perpetrators), myths about what rape ‘looks like’, why survivors may remain in contact with alleged assailants, and how fraternity culture and group dynamics can enable abuse. Manne calls for reforms to campus policing, Title IX investigations and institutional accountability.
