Person familiar said Columbia application did not mention any disciplinary proceedings
The lawsuit, filed under the alias Jane Doe on Oct. 28 in a New York court, alleges that Caleb Suh drugged his then-girlfriend in her West Point barracks room, administered abortion pills against her will and caused a miscarriage. Suh, a former U.S. Military Academy cadet, pleaded guilty in June to the March 2022 assault on a cadet in the class below him and is awaiting sentencing in a Manhattan-based federal court.
As of Oct. 28, Suh had graduated from Cornell University in 2026 and was a public-health graduate student at Columbia University. His status at Columbia was unclear as of the Nov. 3 report. Before the lawsuit, the case had proceeded quietly at West Point and in federal court. Suh went on to study at two Ivy League universities; his enrollment at Columbia followed the June guilty plea.
At West Point, the woman was 19 and in her second year at the U.S. Military Academy when the assault occurred, according to prosecutors. She was in the cadet class below Suh. She reported him to the Army Criminal Investigation Division there in May 2022, according to her lawsuit. It remains unclear what discipline, if any, Suh may have faced at the academy.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia Cohen said in court in June that Suh had told a West Point investigator that the woman’s miscarriage was accidental and denied ordering abortion medication. West Point did not provide information Monday about the investigation’s findings or outcome. Suh was criminally charged in a Manhattan-based federal court in June, court records show.
Suh transferred to Cornell University, the Ithaca, New York-based university, during the 2023-2024 school year. Cornell said in a statement Monday that he answered “no” to an application question asking whether he had been found responsible for a disciplinary violation at any previous educational institution. West Point reported that Suh was in good academic standing and was eligible to return, Cornell said.
Cornell websites indicate that Suh was recognized for his writing in spring 2024 and became involved with the Cornell Center for Health Equity, a research group. Suh wrote on the center’s site that he was interested in “the intersection of emergency medicine, addiction and public health” and aimed to become a physician. Cornell also said that Suh briefly worked at its medical school and left several months ago. He was credited among the authors of a medical journal report summarizing a 2025 conference on cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
In September, Suh started a master’s program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, his lawyer wrote to the judge in Suh’s federal case. Columbia declined to comment Monday, citing educational privacy laws.
A person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly said Mailman applicants are not asked about criminal records, but they are asked whether they have ever been disciplined for student conduct violations or poor academic performance. The person said Suh’s Columbia application never mentioned any disciplinary proceedings.
At the request of Suh’s lawyer, his sentencing was recently put off until January so he could complete his Columbia semester. His lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, told the court in a letter last month that Suh also has been taking a three-month life skills course for people charged with federal crimes. Prosecutors did not oppose the postponement and declined to comment Monday.
According to Suh’s account to the judge, the woman wanted to have the baby and he did not. Suh told the judge that he impersonated the woman to open an online pharmacy account, ordered abortion medications, got Xanax from a friend to use as a sedative and duped his girlfriend into drinking what she thought was just a prenatal protein shake. After waiting until she fell asleep, he administered the abortion pills orally and vaginally.
According to the woman’s lawsuit, Suh left her alone and incapacitated and ignored her attempts to contact him after she woke and realized she was bleeding. She called 911 and was hospitalized. While she was being treated, Suh went back to the online pharmacy’s website and posted questions about whether doctors might detect the pills, according to the lawsuit. The suit was first reported by The New York Times.
Awaiting sentencing, Suh told the court in June that he was “deeply and immeasurably sorry for my actions and the pain that I have caused.” His lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, declined to comment Monday.
Russell Kornblith, the woman’s lawyer, said by phone Monday, “She’s suffered a life-changing event that she is still dealing with and will be dealing with for the rest of her life.” The suit against Suh seeks unspecified damages.
Kornblith declined to say whether his client ultimately graduated from West Point or what she is doing now. “We hope that by our client coming forward with this lawsuit, it will, at least, ensure that this never happens to anyone else,” Kornblith said.
The lawsuit comes amid national scrutiny of how universities handle student misconduct complaints. Cornell, in particular, has faced criticism since a former student’s lawsuit alleged that several men raped her at a fraternity house in 2024 and that the university did too little after she reported the accusation.