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This story contains reporting about sexual assault, a topic that will be disturbing to some readers.
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“We are Jane Doe.”
That was the simple phrase printed on posters held by Duke University students on Thursday evening.
Jane Doe is the unnamed Cornell University student who says she was raped by at least seven fraternity brothers over the course of one night in October 2024. Her recent high-profile lawsuit — filed against Cornell, its leaders, the Chi Phi fraternity, and the seven men she says assaulted her one after another — brought the harrowing allegations to light.
Anger and grief are still reverberating across the nation, and nowhere are those emotions more potent than on American college campuses. Students at Duke gathered Thursday to voice their outrage as part of a national day of action dubbed “#StopSexualViolence: From the Frat House to the White House.”
Duke saw measurable uptick in the number of rapes reported on campus in 2025 compared to previous years, according to the findings of an annual security report recently published by Duke and reported by The Duke Chronicle.
Nine rapes were reported on Duke’s campus in 2025, compared to two in 2024 and three in 2023.
“The hundreds of college campuses across this country, including our own, are not fundamentally different from Cornell as it pertains to rape culture,” said Duke student organizer Ella Bassett. “Nor are they exempt from this conversation.”
Those nine rape reports, Bassett said, “are just the reported instances. We know the vast majority of these harms go unreported. This will continue to happen until we wake up to the forces that look the other way in the face of all forms of violence and misogyny.
“Faculty, do not pretend this is not happening. Your students deserve to know that you recognize the Cornell story’s connection to our campus.”
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According to a 2018 student experience survey published by the university, 48% of female undergraduate students said they experienced sexual assault since enrolling at Duke.
This statistic was cited at the rally on Thursday. Campus rape, Bassett said, is “unacceptably ordinary looking to us.”
“Young women, girls, and LGTBQ+ students deserve to live with safety and dignity, free from violence,” said student organizer Artivista Karlin.
“To the men in this crowd: we need you to do more. Don’t be the person in the group chat, in the Snapchat thread, who saw something but did nothing. Betray the patriarchy that keeps rape culture alive. Call out your friends, bring them into conversation, and bring them into rallies like these.”
Students at the rally are seeking concrete institutional action from Duke, including making the university’s Gender Violence Education and Outreach Office more visible and accessible. In addition, students asked for a consistent and transparent survey process to determine the scale of the problem.
They want direct support and collaboration on prevention and awareness efforts from Duke’s administration.
The students marched through campus chanting and decrying the patriarchy. Afterward, attendees were invited to share their emotions and experiences in an open mic.
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This story was originally published October 8, 2026 at 6:36 PM.