CENTRAL SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — A civil lawsuit against Cornell University and seven of its fraternity members over allegations of sexual assault and Title IX violations is sparking conversations on college campuses nationwide — including at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
The suit claims a woman was sexually assaulted by the students in 2024 after being pressured into taking drugs and drinking alcohol. She reported the alleged assault to campus police. Prosecutors have since reopened the investigation into the allegations.
Watch previous reporting about the lawsuit:
Title IX is the federal law that prohibits sexual discrimination in education.
The case — widely referred to as the "Cornell 7" — has dominated headlines on social media and in news outlets. UCCS's Title IX coordinator says there are many resources available for students locally.
Keison Morales, president of the UCCS Interfraternity Council, said the case immediately struck a chord with students on campus.
"When we saw it, we're all just wondering like, how could this happen," Morales said.
Cornell University is more than 1,000 miles away from UCCS. But students here are having the hard conversations.
"We talked during our chapter, we're just disgusted by it because especially how can a chapter do this to people," Morales said.
Morales is a member of a fraternity on campus — and he also oversees all of the fraternities. He says the Cornell case has led to criticism of Greek Life across the country, but argues there is some misrepresentation.
"Here on a small campus, it's not happening on that level. Everyone thinks, oh, you're a fraternity, you're like Cornell so I'm like, no, we are not. We take strides to make sure we aren't like that. We make strides with the school to follow their policy," Morales said.
Protections are in place at fraternity events — both on and off campus.
"We have DD's, we have sober monitors. We have everything. So if anything were to go wrong, we're happy with that. We'll be able to get you to the hospital, get you the resources you need, and all of our fraternity guys are Narcan trained," Morales said.
Morales said there is also a "violet program" in place.
"We have sisters in our fraternities who basically look after girls that say they don't feel comfortable with a guy, and then we have our little sisters take care of them, make sure they'll get then the resources you need during an event," said Morales.
Those safety measures extend beyond Greek Life. The university's Office of Institutional Equity works to spread the word about what resources are available to students.
Laura Emmot, UCCS associate vice chancellor of Institutional Equity and Title VI and Title IX coordinator, described those outreach efforts.
"We do a lot of tabling events at pre-orientation in the summertime, during the fall and spring, and prevention and education awareness. We have training for all incoming freshmen that's called our gateway Program seminar," Emmot said.
Between July 2025 and June 2026, UCCS received 191 sexual misconduct allegations. Emmot said Title IX investigations take time — and for good reason.
"Title IX process investigations and resolution can take a long time, and that is because we honor due process. We need to make sure that we do a thorough review and evaluation of all of the information, talk to as many parties as we can," Emmot said.
Emmot said there is something that she thinks hasn't been reported on as much as it can be: the distinction and separation between a Title IX investigation and a criminal investigation.
"I've seen some coverage about that, but generally speaking, our standard is to address whether the policy is violated and to try to remove barriers for students' access to their education or employees' access to their employment," Emmot said, "Understanding that the Title IX office also has very specific federal regulations that are prescribed and describe exactly how what we have to do is different from the police investigation process entirely. We have some crossover at times there may be some similarities in process, but the outcomes can be completely different. The standard of evidence is different, and we are really focused on adhering to university policy."
Ultimately, Morales said he feels safe at UCCS — and wants every student to feel the same way.
"We make sure everyone's safe and everyone feels safe when they either come to an event of ours or when they come to anything in our organization they feel safe and they feel welcomed," Morales said.
