Who Does the Outside Reviewer Work For? What Cornell's Yates Review Means for Accused Students
Sally Yates is asking the Cornell community for information and plans campus visits. Here is who the reviewer works for, whether your FERPA file goes to her, and how to handle an interview request.
October 22, 2026 · 3 min read
Sally Yates has started work on Cornell's outside review, and she is asking the campus to send her information. Her team plans to spend time on campus. If you are an accused student, or the parent of one, the first question is simple: whose lawyer is she?
The new development. In a statement to the Cornell community on Tuesday, Oct. 20, Yates wrote that "our independence is not a formality," according to both Bloomberg, via Insurance Journal, and The Cornell Daily Sun. The National Desk and the Sun both report that she is inviting students, faculty and staff to send information by email.
What the review covers. A special committee of Cornell's trustees hired Yates on Oct. 6, as CBS News and ABC News reported at the time. Cornell's announcement lists investigations, hearings, discipline and appeals, campus police, Greek-life oversight, and a detailed look at the university's October 2024 response to the Jane Doe allegations involving Chi Phi members.
Where the accounts differ. Cornell's Oct. 6 announcement said the board "intends to share" the results with the Cornell community. Yates's new letter, as Bloomberg and The National Desk describe it, says the board plans to release them publicly. None of these sources says how much detail about individual cases will appear.
Where the case stands. Jane Doe's civil suit alleges a 2024 gang rape at the fraternity house. Those are allegations. No criminal charges have been filed, the Associated Press, via PBS NewsHour, and CBS News report, and lawyers for two of the accused men deny the allegations. The state attorney general is investigating.
Why it matters to you. The reviewer works for the trustees. She does not work for you. What you hand her team can end up in a report, a lawsuit or a prosecutor's file.
Her law firm's website has a guide to commander's inquiries and administrative command investigations, the military's version of an internal fact-finding review.