In the wake of a reported sexual assault last Friday in a Loyola University dormitory, students interviewed by The Phoenix said they were not only disturbed by the incident, but frustrated by how the university responded.
According to Chicago Police news affairs, the alleged sexual assault occurred between an 18-year-old female freshman and three male freshmen in the female student’s Mertz Hall dorm room, located at 6525 Sheridan Rd. The incident occured on Friday, Nov. 13 around 1 a.m. and an incident report was filed at 2:45 a.m. to Campus Safety that stated that after several hours of drinking alcohol the three male students left.
Also according to the incident report filed with Campus Safety, the female student stated she “was sexually assaulted by the three guests but because of her level of intoxication at the time, she was unable to resist or call for help.”
The female was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston for treatment. A few hours later she recanted her statement, the Chicago Police Department said.
The Phoenix reached out to all the individuals involved in the incident, but all four either declined to comment or didn’t return a call.
Since then, students who were present on the floor during the incident claim they have not heard any official developments from the university. They also say they have not been directly offered any counseling services from Loyola.
These students, who live on the floor where the incident occurred, would like to remain anonymous because the university is still investigating. The Chicago Police Department’s investigation is now closed because the female student recanted her statement, according to Chicago Police Department news affairs officer Amina Greer.
“[The university] should have offered us something, but they didn’t give us anything,” one of the anonymous sources said about receiving counseling. “They’re not even letting us know what is going on with the boys.”
Another anonymous source said she was surprised the university did not send out a campus-wide e-mail concerning the incident.
“There was no e-mail sent out,” she said. “There are still people on the floor [where the incident occurred] who still don’t know what happened.”
“We’ve seen e-mails go out about other things, and I feel like this is something you need to inform people on,” she added. “There’s girls who woke up to the police but have no idea why they were there.”
Jane Neufeld, dean of students, said if the university felt the student population was in any danger following the report of the assault, an e-mail would have been sent out immediately.
“It’s been reported and it allegedly happened,” Neufeld said. “We’re following our procedures to get to the truth.”
“We take sexual assault very seriously,” she explained. “We need to be able to protect the survivor and all those involved at this sensitive time.”
Neufeld added that if any student wants to talk about the incident she is available to guide them to the many resources available on campus, particularly at the Wellness Center.
Alissa Eischens, a health educator and trained rape crisis counselor at the Wellness Center, said various departments on campus have their own protocol for sexual assault.
The Wellness Center, she said, can help students go to the hospital following a sexual assault and provide counseling services to those who need it.
“The crucial thing with sexual assault is [that] we really want to help the survivor feel like they have a sense of control, as much as we can,” Eischens said. “We don’t force them to talk with us. We want to make ourselves available, but it is ultimately the student’s choice whether they want to talk with us or whether they want help.”
“When it’s a sexual assault, it’s really only about the person who was sexually assaulted,” she added. “I understand people’s need for support, but also, the survivor has a right to not have their assault discussed in an open forum on campus.”
Eischens said the Wellness Center will implement a new program, made possible with a recently awarded federal grant, to educate students more on how to respond to sexual assault.
“One of the provisions of the grant is that all incoming students receive education specifically around Loyola’s policies in regard to sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking, in terms of where to find help on campus, how to make a report, what the sanctions are for these particular infractions, that kind of thing,” Eischens said. “We want to also reach out as much as we can and do prevention education.”
If a student is sexually assaulted or would like to speak with someone about sexual assault, resources are available at the Wellness Center. For immediate help, call the Rape Crisis Hotline at (888) 293-2080. For more information, call (773) 508-2751 for the Wellness Center or visit the Wellness Center Web site.
