“Sadly, we have become so accustomed to institutions failing women that we have started to process these failures the way we process bad weather—unfortunate, unpleasant, and ultimately unchangeable. I can’t believe I have to say this (I wish I could scream it), but it’s none of those things.” So writes ELLE contributor Rita Omokha in her essay on the lawsuit accusing seven Cornell University fraternity brothers of assaulting a fellow student. The lack of accountability—which Omokha calls “a failure and an insult to women all over the world”—is part of what makes the case so enraging. We can only hope it may also prove to be galvanizing, on college campuses and far beyond.
—Sara Austin, executive editor
