University of Chicago issues warning about students drugged at parties, report of sexual assault
The University of Chicago said Thursday it has received seven reports of students having their drinks drugged since September, and one report of a sexual assault, CBS Chicago reports.
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 the university reported being sexually assaulted in a residence hall room after a party on 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 sophomore at the University of Chicago. "I feel like the issue with these campus safety alerts that they're like - it kind of just goes like: '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 told CBS Chicago that so far, none of the students 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, a sophomore, "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 have been drugged to contact them. To make a police report, the university reminded 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 university 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 University of Chicago 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 that anyone forced their way into a dorm room, leaving the impression that she is acquainted with her possible attacker.