Cornell 7: Who are the two students expelled? New link between Chi Phi members Orazio Petito, Matthew Ingalls surfaces
Two Cornell University students were expelled after seven were accused of drugging and gangraping a former student. The 2024 case was reopened by the DA even as the former student sued the school and seven Chi Phi fraternity members.
A view of Cornell University where seven students have been accused of drugging and gangraping a former student. (X/@Cornell)Among the seven, a few of them share another surprising link outside of the fraternity. Here's all you need to know.
The news of the two Cornell University students being expelled was reported by CBS News. However, their names have not been made public yet.
The university gave a reason for this in a statement issued about the 2024 case of alleged gangrape. “Federal privacy law prohibits Cornell from disclosing specific information regarding individual students and we therefore are unable to make a public statement on any other disciplinary response. Violations of university policies could lead to sanctions up to and including suspension or expulsion.,” they said.
At the same time, the university noted that the Xi chapter of Chi Phi fraternity remained barred from the campus.
The lawyer of the victim further claimed that apart from the two expulsions, the others faced lesser sanctions including suspensions, workshops or essays. There were no arrests made in the case, attorney Thomas Giuffra added.
Meanwhile, the Cornell statement said “The Cornell Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards investigated and adjudicated the allegations consistent with university policies.”
Some of the accused had another surprising link the Cornell Sun reported. Four of them were in the Cornell Rugby Football Club. Former Cornell Chi Phi President Orazio Petito and defendants Matthew Ingalls, Winston Lee and Scott Kretzschmar were on the club's earlier rosters.
While Petito and Kretzschmar appeared on the club’s 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 rosters, Ingalls and Lee appeared on the club’s 2023-24 roster.
Ingalls, Lee and Kretschmar were accused of criminal sexual acts as per the lawsuit and Petito was accused of “breaching his duty to supervise and maintain” Cornell’s Chi Phi chapter.
The Cornell rugby club said “players who were known to be connected with the alleged events were permanently removed from the team and alumni network as soon as their affiliation with the incident was established,” as per the publication.
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More
