A longtime adviser to Cornell University's Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity has been placed on leave after recorded conversations in which he claimed he could obtain favors from campus police, the Times Union reported Sunday.
Dennis Paese, a vice president of the national Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation, disputed the report and suggested the recordings might have been doctored. The newspaper said it could not independently verify his claims that police overlooked misconduct, suppressed potential investigations or improperly passed information to him.
Recordings involve a separate fraternity
The December 2024 conversations concern Sigma Alpha Mu, not Chi Phi, the fraternity at the center of the Cornell Seven civil lawsuit. They took place weeks after campus police received Jane Doe's report of an alleged sexual assault at Chi Phi.
According to the Times Union, Paese claimed police had helped Sigma Alpha Mu members avoid consequences for drug use, underage drinking, egg-throwing and a feud with another fraternity. The newspaper said the recordings contained no examples of Cornell police failing to investigate a formal sexual-assault allegation.
Paese also claimed that police supplied him information about a separate sexual-assault accusation against a Sigma Alpha Mu member. The newspaper quoted him saying, “I got a lot of friends with the cops.”
Former chapter president Cristobal Ramirez and another former chapter leader recorded private conversations with Paese during his December 2024 visit, the Times Union reported. Paese questioned Ramirez's reliability. Ramirez was removed as chapter president in March 2025 over leadership concerns and told the newspaper he had become increasingly absent and disillusioned before that vote.
Andy Huston, executive director of the national fraternity, told the Times Union that Paese had been placed on leave while an outside attorney investigates. Huston said the organization takes the claims seriously and supports efforts to protect survivors, hold members accountable and pursue criminal charges when appropriate.
Dispute over a separate assault allegation
The conversations took place as Sigma Alpha Mu leaders were responding to a sexual-assault accusation against one of their members. Ramirez said the alleged assault occurred before the man joined the fraternity. The accused man disputed the allegation, according to the newspaper.
Former chapter leaders told the Times Union they voted to ask the member to leave, but Paese directed them to reverse course. Paese argued in the recordings that an informal internal investigation had not followed the fraternity's disciplinary procedures and that the matter should have been left to university officials and law enforcement.
Two former leaders said the woman had not formally reported her allegation to Cornell. The chapter also sought police assistance during the accused member's mental health emergency, according to the report.
The man remained in the house until the end of that academic year, former chapter leaders said. Huston confirmed that he remained a fraternity member and said the chapter had not submitted an expulsion request to the national organization.
Paese claimed the university was aware of the accusation and waiting for the national fraternity to handle it. Huston gave a different account, telling the newspaper he learned of an allegation through the campus newspaper and that neither the adviser nor a university official had been aware of it.
The Times Union also reported that Paese disparaged women who accused chapter members of sexual assault and described an accusation against himself, which he denied. He claimed police had found no basis for that accusation; the newspaper said it was unclear which police agency he meant. Huston condemned victim-blaming and said the allegation against Paese was another reason for his leave.
Claims about police access and fraternity oversight
Paese described then-Cornell Police Chief Anthony Bellamy as a friend and claimed a longstanding relationship with David Honan, Cornell's associate vice president of public safety and a former campus police chief.
The newspaper described recordings in which Paese claimed Bellamy had overlooked reports of drinking and drugs but warned that he could not continue doing so. Paese also claimed he had helped members avoid consequences for throwing eggs at Chi Phi and for a separate feud involving property taken between fraternities. Ramirez acknowledged participating in the egg-throwing, the Times Union reported.
Bellamy, now an Ithaca Police Department deputy chief, and Honan did not respond to the newspaper's requests for comment. Ithaca spokesperson Alan Karasin said the city takes allegations involving employees seriously and would respond if warranted, while declining to address incidents from an employee's prior job when the city was not involved.
Paese also claimed he had obtained an exemption from a live-in adviser requirement through Cornell Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi. Huston confirmed the chapter received an exemption but said national leadership was not involved in those discussions and understood that the policy no longer existed. The Times Union reported that Cornell still described a live-in adviser requirement online.
The newspaper reported no response to its inquiries from Lombardi, current Cornell Police Chief Eric Stickel or Cornell's media relations office.
Where the Cornell Seven case stands
The separate Chi Phi case centers on Jane Doe's allegation that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members in October 2024. Her September civil lawsuit names Cornell and other defendants, including seven men who deny wrongdoing. None had been criminally charged as of the Times Union's Oct. 18 report.
Doe's attorney has accused Cornell of a cover-up; the university denies that claim. Cornell says campus police investigated in 2024 and provided Doe's sworn statement and a Snapchat screenshot to Tompkins County prosecutors. Its separate university disciplinary proceedings resulted in sanctions including suspensions and expulsions, and the Chi Phi chapter has been closed and barred from campus since 2024.
As FingerLakes1 previously reported, Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James to lead the criminal investigation Oct. 1. A separate university review led by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates examines Cornell's handling of sexual misconduct, including the Doe case, campus policing and institutional oversight.
Safety changes, protests and upcoming decisions
President Michael Kotlikoff's Oct. 13 directive suspended parties and social events in Interfraternity Council houses for the remainder of the 2026-27 academic year. Violations would trigger an immediate emergency suspension.
Kotlikoff also announced a new case manager to help people reporting misconduct navigate university services, expanded victim-advocate support, prevention programs and safer social alternatives. He said Cornell was working with State Police on independent, trauma-informed investigators interviewing survivors who choose to pursue criminal charges and preparing summaries for the appropriate law enforcement agency during the outside review.
The president returned to those concerns in his Oct. 15 State of the University address, saying Cornell needed to reset expectations within parts of its fraternity system. Protesters staged a mock tribunal outside a trustees meeting Friday, pressing for leadership changes and a different approach to sexual-assault complaints.
Doe's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, has opposed a proposed gag order, arguing it would silence his client. Cornell sought clearer limits and protections for nonparty witnesses. Those requests concern speech and privacy in the civil case.
The Faculty Senate's published schedule calls for further debate on a proposed no-confidence resolution Oct. 28, followed by electronic voting. Separately, an Oct. 29 court argument is scheduled on a civil defendant's challenge to James' appointment, as our earlier coverage detailed.
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