In a statement released Monday, Sept. 28, Mayor Robert Cantelmo criticized the university for its handling of the case in 2024

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The mayor of Ithaca, N.Y., is moving to suspend Greek life and other student events at Cornell University following newly surfaced allegations that seven fraternity members gang-raped a former student after drugging her in 2024.

In a statement released Monday, Sept. 28, Mayor Robert Cantelmo said he plans to impose an immediate moratorium “on all student event and special event permits, including, but not limited to Greek life and other student group gatherings,” according to reports from WSYR, Finger Lakes Daily News and WSKG.

He criticized the university for its handling of the case at the time.

“Despite the severity of these crimes, Cornell University administrators and police failed to contact or coordinate any response with the Ithaca Police Department. Furthermore, the University failed to hold the perpetrators to account,” Cantelmo wrote.

The proposal will require approval from the Ithaca Common Council before it takes effect. If approved, the moratorium would remain in place until the university “conducts an accounting of its protocols to prevent and prosecute crimes of sexual violence and publicly releases new standards and practices to keep our community safe,” according to the statement.The mayor’s comments come after the university released a statement, saying it conducted a months-long Title IX investigation, which is separate from a criminal proceeding. The investigation resulted in a range of sanctions for the accused students, including temporary suspensions and expulsions.

“None of the individuals [accused] were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement,” the university said, adding that the on-campus Chi Phi chapter was closed in 2024 and remains barred from campus.

Also on Monday, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten announced that his office had reopened the criminal investigation after no charges were originally filed.

The district attorney claimed the former student’s statement to investigators in 2024 differed from what she alleged in a civil complaint filed on Sept. 16 in the New York Supreme Court. Her attorney, Thomas P. Giuffra, told CNN her statements were the same.

In the civil complaint, the woman identified only as Jane Doe, alleges she was sexually assaulted for hours by seven Chi Phi fraternity members after being drugged in October 2024 when she was age 20.

The complaint also includes alleged messages sent in a fraternity Snapchat group chat, including one that said there was “free p—-” upstairs. The woman reported the incident to police weeks later and ultimately left the university, according to her lawyer.

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In an interview with PEOPLE on Tuesday, Sept. 29, Van Houten pushed back on the suggestion that the alleged victim’s decision to report the encounter should have prompted a more extensive criminal investigation.

“Something untoward did happen,” Van Houten claimed. “It was morally disgusting. It was the wrong thing and a 20-year-old doesn’t understand, as most people don’t understand, the distinctions between something that seems wrong, that feels wrong, is morally wrong, and whether that constitutes a crime.”