The university said on Tuesday that it had identified a “person of interest” in the case.
A 21-year-old woman reported being sexually assaulted at a fraternity party near the University of Chicago after a friend found her inside a locked bathroom with her clothes pulled down and a man holding her wrists, according to a report by The New York Times.The alleged assault took place in the early hours of Sunday at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house. A witness said she heard men gathered outside the bathroom cheering and making remarks such as “When’s it my turn?” and “I want to go in there,” before forcing her way inside.Neither the woman who reported the assault nor the suspect was a student at the University of Chicago, police said. The city police are investigating the incident and have not said whether anyone has been arrested.The university said on Tuesday that it had identified a “person of interest” in the case and barred that person from campus. The school described the incident as “deeply concerning.”
Friend breaks into locked bathroom
Mia Lara, a 21-year-old student at a nearby university, told The New York Times that she attended the party with the woman who reported the assault and another friend after seeing it advertised on the fraternity’s Instagram account. It was the first fraternity party any of the three had attended.
The group danced in the basement before Lara lost track of her friend, who had begun kissing a man at the party. While searching the house, Lara came across a group of men standing outside a locked bathroom.“They were saying things like, ‘When’s it my turn?’ and, ‘I want to go in there,’” Lara said.She managed to force the door open and found her friend sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall, with her clothes and undergarments pulled down.
The man she had been kissing was holding her wrists, Lara said.Her friend repeatedly pleaded for help, saying, “Make it stop” and “Get me out of here,” according to Lara. Lara began screaming, prompting the man to leave. She and her friend then helped the woman out of the bathroom.Lara later chased the man outside the fraternity house. A video shared on social media captured her confronting him and accusing him of assaulting her friend.“She wanted to,” the man replied before running away.Lara said a campus police officer intercepted her and drove the three women to the University of Chicago hospital. Police took a report there, and the woman underwent a rape exam, she said.
Fraternity and university respond
The University of Chicago chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi condemned what it described as a sexual assault in a statement on Instagram, while asking the public to respect the victim’s privacy.The fraternity’s national organisation also condemned the incident. “No one should attend an event on any campus — fraternity-based or otherwise — and have to fear for their safety and well-being,” it said.Jonathan Pierce, a spokesman for the national organisation, said the suspect was not a member of the university chapter.“We do not believe that any AEPi members were involved in this horrible act, nor were they complicit with it,” Pierce said in an email.The university said fraternities are not formally affiliated with the institution but remain “subject to university policies and disciplinary procedures”. Pierce said Alpha Epsilon Pi had been instructed not to hold events or programmes while the investigation continues.Gerald McSwiggan, a university spokesman, declined to be interviewed.
Cornell case puts Greek life under scrutiny
The incident comes amid renewed scrutiny of fraternities and Greek life across US campuses following allegations of a gang rape at Cornell University in 2024.
The allegations recently returned to the spotlight after a woman filed a lawsuit over the episode.Cornell announced on Tuesday that fraternity parties would be banned for the remainder of the academic year.Across the country, the role of Greek life organisations has come under question amid concerns about hazing, violence and deaths associated with some of these groups. Fraternities are often promoted as a way for students to build friendships and professional networks, but allegations of misconduct have raised questions about campus safety.Klara Grant, an 18-year-old chemistry student at the University of Chicago, said she had left the party with friends before the alleged assault took place. They were shocked when they learnt about the incident the following day.“There’s definitely going to be a different sense in the air for the next little while,” she said.