Cornell Alum Says She Reported Disturbing Fraternity 'Spy Room' 30 Years Ago: 'I Told Everybody and Nothing Happened'

A Cornell alumna has claimed she reported a fraternity 'spy room' to campus police more than 30 years ago, only to be told there was not enough information to investigate.

Allison Fishman, a Cornell class of 1994 graduate, described the alleged incident in two Instagram videos as scrutiny grows over the university's Chi Phi fraternity following the reopening of a criminal investigation into alleged sexual assault.

'I told everybody, and nothing happened,' Fishman said, recalling her first report as a freshman.

Cornell Alum Recalls Alleged 'Spy Room' Report

In an Instagram video, Fishman shared her account. The Cornell alum said she discovered that a fraternity across from her dorm had allegedly created a room from which women could be watched inside their accommodations.

She said she learned about the alleged surveillance after a fraternity party when members took her boyfriend aside and described intimate things they had allegedly seen the pair doing.

Fishman said she went to campus police at Barton Hall to report what she had learned.

'I can still remember the uncomfortable folding chairs I was sitting in at the time,' she said, recalling that an officer told her it was 'really not enough to go on.'

Fishman said she suggested officers could enter the fraternity house and investigate the alleged room, but claimed nothing further happened.

'I told everybody, and nothing happened,' she repeated.

She later described another incident at a fraternity party, saying she saw an unconscious woman being taken into a room. Fishman then alleged that she learned women who were unconscious at parties were being sexually assaulted, filmed and that the footage was shown to fraternity members as part of pledge activities.

Those historical claims are based on Fishman's recollection and have not been independently corroborated in the sources reviewed.

'This is not an incident of now. This has been going on for decades and decades. And women have been reporting it,' Fishman said. 'And it's been going unacknowledged, swept under the rug, like we're the problem. We're not the problem.'

Fishman Identifies Chi Phi

In her second video, Fishman identified the fraternity she was discussing as Chi Phi, saying it was the same fraternity now at the centre of renewed scrutiny.

'It's the same fraternity that's in the news now,' she said.

Fishman said she had also taken concerns about the later incident to The Cornell Daily Sun. She did not provide documentation of either report in the videos, and the historical allegations have not been independently verified.

She urged men who may have witnessed misconduct in fraternity settings to speak out.

'I don't want to cancel you. I want you to be part of shutting this down and stopping it,' she said.

Cornell Chi Phi Investigation Reopened

Fishman's claims come as prosecutors revisit allegations from an October 2024 incident involving a Cornell student and seven Chi Phi members.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, alleged that the men sexually assaulted her after she became incapacitated following alcohol and drug consumption. The allegations have not been established in court.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said his office had reopened the criminal investigation and planned to present evidence to a grand jury, with Reuters reporting that the decision followed the civil lawsuit and additional information that emerged.

New York Attorney General Letitia James was later appointed special prosecutor by Gov. Kathy Hochul, while Cornell has said the Chi Phi chapter was closed and remains barred from campus.

Fishman, meanwhile, is asking former fraternity members who witnessed misconduct to speak up.

'You have mothers, you have sisters, and now, now you have daughters. Now's the time to do the right thing,' she said. 'I look forward to one of you stepping up.'