Four female students may have been given a date-rape drug last month at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Two allege sexual assault.
As CNN reported on February 7, allegations of sexual assault and the use of date-rape drugs have surfaced at Northwestern University:
The Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house on the campus of Northwestern University in Illinois. Chris Walker / Chicago TribuneNorthwestern received tips about two alleged incidents, one on January 21 and the other this month, according to campus security alert issued Monday night.
Four female students may have been given a date-rape drug last month at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, campus security reports. Two of them “believe they were also sexually assaulted,” the report states.
The school received another report that a female student was sexually assaulted on February 2, “possibly involving use of a date-rape drug after attending an event at another fraternity house.” the alert said. It is not clear where the alleged assault might have happened.
In its security alert, the university stressed its concern about its students’ safety. It said anyone with knowledge about the alleged incidents should contact the school’s Title IX coordinator. Northwestern’s Sexual Harassment Prevention Office is investigating. Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national organization has also launched an investigation into the allegations.
These are the latest claims associated with a chilling problem that is significant on US college campuses, as a recent survey by The Association of American Universities found.
Conducted in the spring of 2015, the survey documented the problem of sex assault on campus by polling over 150,000 students from 27 universities. Among female college students, 23% said they experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact — ranging from kissing to touching to rape, carried out by force or threat of force, or while they were incapacitated because of alcohol and drugs, the survey found. Nearly 11% said the unwanted contact included penetration or oral sex.