By EDITORIAL BOARD
On Oct. 9, an alleged drugging was reported at the Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) house and a suspected sexual assault at an off-campus location. The day after the security alert was sent out, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Kevin G. Shollenberger emailed the student body to say that the report was being investigated and that SigEp was directed to not hold parties while the investigation is ongoing.
In the two weeks since, the University has issued no further update or clarification of the alleged incidents. The Editorial Board believes that the student body deserves an update on the situation and that this radio silence is unacceptable. In a time when the student body is hyper-aware of sexual assault, safety and transparency, the administration should understand that we want to be kept updated.
Recently, the University has been scrutinized for its lack of transparency regarding sexual assault, and is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for Title IX violations. The student body is invested in these issues. We care about all of our peers and want everyone to feel safe and be safe in the community. We want to be kept informed of the status of the investigation and the status of any efforts toward preventing this in the future.
The Editorial Board acknowledges and understands that there may not be any progress yet in the investigation, but we would appreciate an update saying even just that. We assume that the student affairs administrators are working on the larger issue, and even if they are not prepared to announce concrete measures, an update would be welcomed and reassuring.
This is a critical time for Fraternity and Sorority Life on campus and we do not want a repeat of the University’s past mistakes. These incidents are horribly unfortunate, but when they do occur, we deserve to be kept aware of what our administration is doing.
