A 19-year-old woman filed a lawsuit Monday alleging she was sexually assaulted at a fraternity house near the University of Chicago in February amid heightened scrutiny of sexual misconduct on college campuses.
The college student, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, sued in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging that the sexual assault took place during a party at the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity house on Feb. 7. It names Alpha Delta Phi Inc. and Chicago Society of Alpha Delta Phi as defendants.
“The grief that this has imposed upon me is indescribable,” Doe told NBC News in an interview. “It is the first thing I think about whenever I wake up every day and the last thing I think about whenever I fall asleep.”
Doe’s case comes weeks after a former Cornell University student claimed in a lawsuit that she was gang-raped at a fraternity party, causing national outrage, and just days after a woman reported that she was sexually assaulted at a party hosted by a different fraternity near the University of Chicago.
The University of Chicago, which does not recognize fraternities as official student organizations, said in a statement that it was “prepared to help the Chicago Police Department” in its investigation.
“These allegations are very disturbing to the University community,” said a university spokesperson, Gerald McSwiggan. “The University of Chicago is committed to addressing and preventing incidents of sexual assault.”
Alpha Delta Phi’s national team said in a statement that it is aware of the allegations and that it “suspended the member involved.”
“The conduct described is deeply troubling and inconsistent with our values,” it said. “We are committed to the safety and well-being of our members and communities and will cooperate with law enforcement as appropriate.”
Alpha Delta Phi’s Chicago chapter referred all requests to its national organization.
Doe — who is not a student at the University of Chicago — said she learned about the party on Instagram and had gone to parties at the fraternity house previously. That night, she said, she went to the party with several friends, none of whom are students at the university.
Doe said she was dancing with friends when a fraternity brother approached her. The fraternity brother offered her a shot, which she said immediately made her feel unsteady and lightheaded, according to the lawsuit.
She said she had had only two drinks before she took the shot, spaced out over roughly two hours. She described having the “spins” and feeling as though her “vision was underwater.”
“I know myself, and that was not the amount with how intoxicated I felt after the shot that I took with him,” she said. “I’ve never felt like that before.”
She added that she watched the fraternity brother pour the shot and did not notice anything “odd.”
The fraternity member then directed Doe to follow him to a secluded bedroom on a different floor of the fraternity house, according to the lawsuit. Doe expressed her unsteadiness and lightheadedness, which the fraternity member ignored, the lawsuit says.
The fraternity brother began to make “unwanted and nonconsensual sexual advances” on the woman, the lawsuit says. It says she “lost all physical and verbal ability to refuse” the fraternity member’s alleged sexual advances.
“I remember backing onto the bed because I knew what was about to happen, but I just — I didn’t feel like I was strong enough to get out,” she told NBC News.
The lawsuit says that although her verbal ability was limited, she managed to plead with the fraternity brother to wear a condom, which he refused to do. The fraternity brother then penetrated her “without her consent,” the lawsuit says.
After the alleged encounter, the man left Doe alone and unconscious, according to the suit. It alleges that other fraternity brothers initially blocked her friend from going upstairs to find her.
Her friend found her unconscious and helped her out of the house, according to the complaint. She said that she faintly remembers her shirt being on backward when she woke up but that she was not sure how she got her clothes on.
She struggled to speak and walk as they escorted her out of the home, according to the lawsuit. Doe said she slept over at her friend’s dorm room that night.
The next morning, Doe found bloodstains in her underwear and went to the hospital, where she reported the incident to the Chicago Police Department, according to a police report. Doe told police she believed the alcohol was laced with something, according to the report.
Police confirmed that a 19-year-old who reported a sexual assault at the fraternity house took herself to Illinois Masonic Hospital for treatment on Feb. 8. Doe received a sexual assault evidence collection kit at the hospital, according to the police report.
Days later, the woman was contacted by the University of Chicago Police Department, which she said was investigating her case. Doe said that university police spoke with her for roughly 30 minutes over the phone but that she has not heard from them since. The university police department declined to give Doe records related to her case without a subpoena, she alleges in her lawsuit.
A spokesperson for the city’s police department said it was investigating the incident; the spokesperson did not answer questions about the university police department’s involvement in the case.
Doe is seeking a trial by jury and an amount in excess of $200,000, plus costs.
Doe’s lawyer, Mike Grieco of Gould Grieco & Hensley, said the aim is to also “ensure that this doesn’t happen again, and to help reform” policies within the university.
The University of Chicago has been roiled in recent days by a separate allegation of a sexual assault at a fraternity party near campus. A 21-year-old woman told police she was sexually assaulted this month at a party held at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house, just off campus. Chicago police said no arrests have been made in either case.
“At the end of the day, what happened to me is not unique, and it’s not rare. It happens way more than people realize,” Doe said. “There are so many other survivors out there who suffer in silence.”