Yale University police were on Friday investigating a freshman dormitory, where an alleged incident of campus sexual assault reportedly took place on Wednesday.
Yale Police department chief Ronnell Higgins sent a campus-wide email alerting students of the Ivy League university that an alleged incident of sexual assault had occurred in a residential room on Wednesday night.
“The Yale Police received a report today that a sexual assault occurred on campus, in a residential room, Wednesday night, January 21st. The victim and reported perpetrator are both Yale College students,” Higgins’ email said.
On Friday, roughly a dozen officers with the Yale police department searched a suite on the third floor of the historic Vanderbilt Hall dormitory. Police remained at the dormitory for roughly 24 hours, the student paper reported. It is unclear what the investigation found and if it resulted in the removal of the alleged perpetrator.
“In keeping with the requirements of the federal Clery Act, the Yale police this week notified the Yale community of two reported sexual assaults,” Tom Conroy, a Yale University spokesperson said in an email.
This was the second report of rape on the New Haven, Connecticut, campus in a week. Just four days prior, students received an alert from the police chief informing them that a visitor from a nearby state school had reported being sexually assaulted by a Yale student whom she knewon Sunday 18 January.
The female student involved in the incident on Sunday was interviewed by police at the hospital on Tuesday afternoon where she was being treated for physical injuries, the Independent reported.
The university has faced criticism for its handling of sexual misconduct allegations. In 2013, the university came under fire after a report revealed it failed to expel students who had been found guilty of sexual misconduct. Following the outrage, Yale clarified its sexual assault policy, which now defines sexual assault as sexual contact taken against a person who has not given “positive”, “specific” and “unambiguous” consent.
