Hochul said New York State Police signed an agreement with Cornell University so that all sexual offence complaints, which had historically fallen under the jurisdiction of university police, will be immediately referred to state police instead.

"When someone reports sexual assault," Hochul said on Thursday, they deserve "to know their allegations will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated by law enforcement trained to support survivors".

"Survivors should be able to trust the institutions responsible for protecting them," the governor added.

Backlash against the Ivy League university has been intense since Jane Doe filed her lawsuit in mid-September.

On Wednesday, the institution's Faculty Senate, a governing body composed of professors and other academic staff, met behind closed-doors and decided to move forward with voting on a resolution of no-confidence against the administration and the university's President Michael Kotlikoff.

The vote will be open for faculty starting on Friday and run…