What is unfolding at Cornell and in the national media is nothing less than ginned-up moral hysteria. None of the facts on the ground, thus far, point to rape. Every bit of evidence that we have seen, including the signed statement from the woman, demonstrates that it was consensual sexual behavior. However degenerate, degrading, or sad it is that college students engage in these activities, this behavior is neither new nor uncommon. Our universities have been playgrounds for moral deviance for decades.
Universities like Cornell encourage sexual liberation among their student body (here, here, and here) and then act like Victorian prudes when the students follow their advice and cast off any norms regarding sex or male-female relationships. The thin gruel of consent as the basis of all moral behavior is wholly inadequate as a foundation for governing sexual relations between young men and women. And when the chickens come home to roost, the universities seek only to protect themselves by punishing students for behavior they themselves condone.