UNL officials talk campus safety amid ‘Cornell Seven’ case
By Natalie Hill, Student reporter
Oct. 26, 2026, 6 a.m. ·
In September, the Cornell Daily Sun broke the news of a lawsuit filed against seven fraternity members, their chapter and Cornell University after the men allegedly sexually assaulted a female student at Cornell University’s Chi Phi chapter house in October 2024.
The story quickly garnered national attention, sparking conversations about sexual violence and safety on college campuses.
Melissa Wilkerson, director of the Center for Advocacy, Response and Education at UNL, said she’s noticed the topic of sexual violence come up more across campus since the story broke.
“Anytime there’s something big in the news, regardless of what it is, that is relatable to them (students) based on their age or whatever topic that we’re discussing, I do think that it certainly can… be an outside influence,” she said.
Wilkerson said seeing sexual violence in the media can trigger survivors and distract students from school or work.
“Everyone has a different experience and a different reaction when things like this come up, especially when they’re big in the news,” she said.
CARE offers peer-led educational workshops about bystander intervention, consent, healthy relationships and more to promote on-campus safety.
“We strongly believe in centering students,” Wilkerson said. “So instead of me standing up there as a much older professional, instead we’re like, ‘Let’s learn from your peers.'”
She said these workshops are important because 18- to 24-year-olds are disproportionately affected by relationship and sexual violence. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly half of women and about 38% of men who experienced intimate partner violence reported that it happened when they were between the ages of 18 and 24.
Wilkerson said CARE offers confidential counseling and support to survivors of relationship and sexual violence who are enrolled at UNL.
“Our role is really to help people navigate,” she said. “So many people don’t know what all is available on campus, so we are not the experts in everything, but we will find the experts in order to help our students.
In some cases, CARE helps students report violence to the UNL Police Department. Marty Fehringer, interim chief of police at UNL PD, said the department has investigated three reports of sexual violence on campus this semester.
Fehringer said that in the same time frame in past fall semesters, UNL PD has usually investigated two sexual assaults. While most sexual assaults on campus are committed by someone the survivor knows, one case of “stranger sexual assault” occurred this semester.
“The one sexual assault that we were able to make an arrest out of state was a stranger sexual assault, which is the first that I can recall in the five and a half years I’ve worked at UNL,” Fehringer said.
Joseph Favata was arrested in Wichita, Kansas, after he allegedly attempted to sexually assault a student on UNL’s campus on Sept. 29.
“Other than that, it’s been a relatively, unfortunately, normal year for us of having two sexual assaults reported during the first however many weeks of school that it was,” Fehringer said.
He said national conversations about sexual violence can create opportunities for dialogue about campus safety at UNL specifically.
“Our students are really smart,” Fehringer said. “They really try to stay abreast with nationwide issues and things like that, so I’m sure that they are paying attention, and obviously we all want our campus to be as safe as it possibly can be.”