University of Chicago issues warning about students being drugged at parties, report of sexual assault
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The University of Chicago said Thursday that it has received seven reports of students having their drinks drugged since September – and one report of a sexual assault.
U of C Dean of Students Michele Rasmussen and Vice President for Safety and Security Eric Heath issued a safety and security notice about the predatory pattern Thursday.
They said since September, there have been seven reports of undergraduate students having drugs put in their drinks by unknown people without their consent.
The university said the drink spiking has been happening at different off-campus locations – with no clear pattern.
In one case reported Tuesday to a campus security authority, an undergraduate student at UChicago reported being sexually assaulted in a residence hall room after a party that occurred Friday, Oct. 28. The student suspected their drink had also been drugged, the notice said.
"I mean, I think that's clearly gone too far. This is like something extremely serious. I don't think you can just like treat it as a safety alert," said Jess Xiong, a second-year in the College at the U of C. "I feel like the issue with these campus safety alerts that they're like – it kind of just feels saying: 'Okay, we're not going to do anything about. You guys should just be aware of it.'"
The University of Chicago Police said they are looking into the complaints – and tell CBS 2 that so far, none of the students who said they were victimized have filed police reports. But university officials felt the need to alert the Hyde Park campus.
"I appreciate that the university is keeping us up to date with these types of situations. I think that many institutions would be tempted to kind of shove things under the rug," said Joshua Pixley, also a second-year in the College, "and so that definitely begs the question what else we need to know to prevent these types of things."
Campus police are urging anyone who thinks they may have fallen prey to spiked drinks to contact them. To make a police report, the U of C reminds the campus community they can call Chicago Police at 911, or University of Chicago Police at 123 from a campus phone or (773) 702-8181 from an off-campus phone.
Sexual assault dean-on-call are also available at the U of C 24/7 to support students who have been subjected to gender-based violence. Anyone in the campus community can contact the sexual assault dean-on-call by calling the U of C Police at (773) 702-8181 and asking dispatch to page them, or via text at the UChicago Safe App.
Meanwhile, as for the student who believes she was sexually assaulted, there is no indication of that anyone forced their way into a dorm room – leaving the impression that she is acquainted with her possible attacker.