A former Cornell University instructor who helped popularize the term "sexual harassment" in the 1970s isn't surprised by the latest allegations rocking the Ivy League institution, she told Newsweek. Lin Farley, who first used the phrase in April 1975 while testifying as a Cornell University instructor during a hearing on women in the workplace held by the New York City Human Rights Commission, has said she believes not much has changed regarding the concept she helped codify and expose some five decades earlier. "It was a fact of life at Cornell," Farley, 84, told Newsweek during an interview on Friday.
"I wasn't surprised when I read that. Nobody was surprised when I read that." Farley characterized Cornell as a "big fraternity university" amid allegations by a woman who accused members of a frat of gang rape in November 2024. The accuser told campus police she was sexually assaulted and discussed the incident with the university investigators as part of Cornell's disciplinary process.
An investigation was later closed without charges, but the alleged victim filed a lawsuit last month against the seven fraternity brothers, claiming she was plied with alcohol and sexually assaulted while incapitated. "If you understand what the fraternities do, Cornell supports that 100 percent," Farley said. Like New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who appointed a special prosecutor on Thursday to investigate the case, Farley said she believed the woman who accused the fraternity members of rape had been failed by police and prosecutors.
"Cornell basically just doesn't do anything," Farley said. "You know, it's been a while, I haven't thought about it really, but I do know when I was, everybody agreed with me, understood — Cornell was just a joke. I mean, they don't do anything except support the fraternities and they don't do anything." Farley, who taught at Cornell from 1974 to 1976, advised female students at the university to heed her warning.
"If you're a Cornell co-ed, good luck," she said. "That's basically what I would say." Farley, who wrote "Sexual Shakedown: The Sexual Harassment of Women on the Job" in 1978, said she believes little has changed in the five decades since she detailed the origins of workplace exploitation and related issues. "No, I was surprised that it came out," she said of the accuser's allegations, which were detailed in a lengthy lawsuit.
"That's what surprised me. Cornell is like an embarrassment; it's not even a decent university." An inquiry seeking comment from Cornell in response to Farley's remarks was not immediately returned early on Friday. "The sad thing is, we keep doing these stories over and over," Farley continued.
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