Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of sexual violence. Resources are available here.
Over 50 Indiana University students and Bloomington community members displayed signs, gave speeches and marched across Dunn Meadow on Friday to protest sexual violence on campus.
The “I Am Jane Doe” protest comes after the alleged rape case at Cornell University, in which a former student known by that pseudonym filed a lawsuit Sept. 16 against seven then-Chi Phi fraternity members who allegedly sexually assaulted her after two of them pressured her into taking a drug they said was ketamine. The lawsuit also names the university for its alleged mishandling of the case.
While two of the seven Cornell men involved in the alleged gang rape were expelled, two others were ordered to write “reflection papers” and “study sexual harassment,” the New York Times reported. Jane Doe’s lawyer said in a statement these punishments did not reflect the severity of the charges.
The story, which was broken by student journalists at The Cornell Daily Sun, generated widespread media attention and conversations surrounding what some consider a lack of care for sexual violence victims, as well as the lack of a proper response from universities.
So far this semester, the IU Police Department has received 17 reports of sexual violence, which includes reports of sexual assault, rape and sexual battery. Thirty-four rapes were reported on campus in 2025, according to the 2026 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. And the Indiana Daily Student has reported on what some have described as a persistent culture of sexual abuse within the Jacobs School of Music.
The protest began at Sample Gates. Students wore red and held handwritten signs with messages such as “somebody, not some body,” “educate your sons” and “there are no innocent bystanders to rape.”
Junior Reef Snodgrass, communications director of IU Bloomington’s chapter of Youth Democratic Socialists of America, passed out flyers about safe protesting. Snodgrass also had a megaphone and led chants, including one that said “We are Jane Doe.”
Snodgrass said he hopes the protest shows people they’re not alone. He said having a physical space and a large group to say “we are here for you” can help people feel safer in the community.
He also said he feels “incredibly infuriated” by the Cornell case.
“It brings up a larger sense of injustice that I think all of us have been bottling up for several years, if not our whole lives, about how these situations are handled,” Snodgrass said.
After the crowd gathered at Sample Gates, several protesters gave speeches. They spoke about their own experiences with sexual violence and offered words of support to victims.
Sophomore Lily Brown was among the students who gave a speech. Brown told the crowd she is a victim of multiple sexual assaults, with all incidents happening before the age of 18. She said one of her abusers attended IU.
Brown spoke about her struggles as a woman. She spoke about having to hold keys between her fingers while walking in the dark, in fear that a man walking behind her may become violent.
“You have to exist in a world that was never built for you to live in from the moment you were born,” Brown said in her speech. “I am so exhausted from carrying an anvil on my shoulders and gaslighting myself that it’s invisible.”
Brown also spoke about the life-altering impact rape can have on someone. She said without support from the government and universities, healing from rape can feel like "swimming upwards against a current.”
“Stop sacrificing women with unlimited potential for men that lack some profound empathy for others that they are willing to torture a person with only their own pleasure to gain,” Brown said in her speech. “I am a Jane Doe. Every woman and queer person you know is a Jane Doe.”
IU freshman Keira Lonadier attended the protest because she said it’s important to have conversations about sexual assault. She said even those who aren’t victims of sexual violence themselves know someone who is, who could be anyone from their mother to their friend.
When the news broke about the Cornell case, Lonadier said, she was “disgusted, but not surprised.”
“I just feel like it’s so sickening and disheartening to see how difficult it is for sexual assault victims to get justice,” she said.
As students gave speeches at Sample Gates, passing cars honked their horns and cheered. While most bystanders were in support of the protest, multiple people were not.
One man in the backseat of a car yelled at the protesters to “get a job,” as they drove by. Another car of men yelled, “She deserved it.”
After about an hour, protesters marched through Dunn Meadow to the Indiana Memorial Union, where they stood for the remainder of the protest. Snodgrass started up the chants again.
“It’s SA, not essays,” the protesters chanted, in reference to the “reflection papers” two of the Cornell men were ordered to write as punishment.
As the protest came to a close, IU senior Maria Bull spoke into the megaphone again, thanking everyone for coming to the protest despite the cold weather.
Bull ended the protest by listing a set of demands addressed to IU President Pamela Whitten, the Board of Trustees, the Office of Civil Rights Compliance, student life leadership and others in the IU Bloomington administration.
Bull said the protesters demand independent reviews of the outcome of sexual assault cases reported to the university and that the findings be released publicly. She said students also need biannual surveys that examine campus climate and safety.
Bull also advocated for measurable organizational accountability, such as auditing fraternities and other student groups for “safety practices.”
“Publish the data on discipline and discriminatory actions and apply escalating organizational sanctions, including the loss of recognition for serious and repeated substantial violations through fair procedures,” Bull said in her speech
Bull also demanded guaranteed academic and financial support for victims, including no-cost emergency housing transfers and counseling access.
“This is a dire moment, and dire moments must be met with action,” Bull said in her speech. “We are Jane Doe, and we will not back down.”
A list of resources is available here if you or someone you know has experienced sexual harassment or abuse.
