NSU addresses student safety after claims that man accused in Cornell sex assault lawsuit is current student

Angie DiMichele, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Oct 5, 2026

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Nova Southeastern University took an unusual step Sunday of trying to reassure students about their on-campus safety after online comments claimed one of the seven men accused of sexually assaulting a woman at Cornell University in 2024 now attends the school in Broward County.

Jonathan Newell, 21, of Broward, and six other members of the Ivy League school’s Chi Phi fraternity are defendants in the Jane Doe sexual assault lawsuit, filed Sept. 16 in New York County Court. The complaint alleges the woman, who was an undergraduate student, was coerced into taking ketamine before being gang raped by the men on Oct. 19, 2024, at the fraternity house on campus.

President and CEO Harry Moon shared a statement with students Sunday, which did not explicitly confirm or deny the attendance of one of the men accused in the Cornell University lawsuit and did not name the student in question. The statement said the sexual assault allegations “may involve a student who later transferred to NSU.”

“At the time of admission, the university was not aware of allegations subsequently reported in media,” the statement said. “Once we learned of the reported incident, we acted immediately on behalf of the safety and well-being of our students and the NSU community. Because this matter involves federal law regarding an individual student, the university is legally restricted by federal regulations that limit what the university can share.”

Moon’s statement continued: “The university continues to monitor the situation and will remain vigilant. As a result of actions we have taken, we are not aware of any current threat to the university community with regard to the matter.”

The statement did not address when the student in question enrolled or explicitly say whether he is still a current student. The Cornell student newspaper reported Newell was one of two men accused in the lawsuit to be expelled.

In response to emailed questions, Pashen Black, Nova Southeastern University’s Director of Public Relations & Marketing Communications, reiterated that the university was unable to share further details.

“While I’m limited in what I can share about this matter, what I can tell you is that the safety and well-being of our NSU community is a top priority,” Black wrote in an email to the Sun Sentinel. “We were not aware of the allegations at the time the student was admitted to NSU and acted immediately once we were informed. Because this matter involves federal law regarding an individual student, the university is restricted by federal regulation from sharing further information.”

Comments of outrage and condemnation began flooding NSU’s Instagram account Friday, saying that Newell was admitted as a student there after leaving Cornell.

At least 100 comments were left on one post over the weekend. As of late Monday afternoon, the ability to leave comments on the university’s most recent Instagram posts was turned off.

“Hey @nsuflorida THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING,” one Instagram user wrote. Several people left comments with a grape emoji, which is a censored way to reference rape on social media. Others called for Newell’s expulsion.

Information for the attorney representing Newell in the sexual assault lawsuit was not available in court records Monday.

Newell appears to have graduated in 2023 from NSU University School in Davie, an academic center of Nova Southeastern University and private college prep school. An Instagram account that shared photos of graduating seniors that year showed Newell was accepted into Cornell to major in biological sciences.

No criminal cases have been filed in Broward County or Palm Beach County courts against Newell.

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