Police have opened an investigation into an alleged rape in a campus residential community last week.
University police have a suspect in the case, which has since been passed to the Office of the District Attorney of San Francisco, but no arrests have been made.
The San Francisco’s District Attorneys Office was not immediately available for comment.
The victim reported to police last Monday that the alleged rape occurred in the Village at Centennial Square. The victim was “drugged” at the time of the incident, which occurred at 6:25 p.m. Aug. 29, according to the University Police Department Crime and Arrest Log.
“There was someone crying and people were being interrogated,” said Queer Alliance Director Pablo Ramirez, who said he heard the incident recounted outside his office. “Nobody talked about it the next day.”
Residential Life directs all information to Title IX Coordinator LuoLuo Hong’s office, according to its interim director Kevin Kinney. “Her office will start the investigation and give us direction onto what the University does,” he said.
Recent changes to Title IX legislation require federally funded universities to address gender discrimination in their communities, primarily focused on issues of sexual assault and sexual harassment. SF State adopted the policy changes this fall to uphold the initiative.
“Every reported incident of sexual assault will be taken seriously and investigated fully,” said Hong. “We will ensure that both the victim is provided needed assistance and support, and that the accused is afforded all due process rights.”
Over the summer, all new incoming students were required to complete the Campus Clarity online training program that dealt with issues related to sexual harassment and sexual violence.
“The school had us go through this online course and they (Campus Clarity program) said that one in every four college women will get sexually assaulted,” said village resident Nathan McCanne.
Victims and survivors of sexual harassment or sexual violence are encouraged to seek assistance from the campus SAFE Place, student health services, the counseling and psychological services center and the University Police Department.
“We encourage any individual who has experienced sexual harassment/sexual violence to report the incident as soon as possible,” said Hong in an email.
Ramirez has dealt with reports of sexual assault on campus and generally advises survivors to seek trained counselors.
“I have heard of a lot of different types of assault (on campus),” said Ramirez. “Not particularly rape, but there are definitely sexual assaults happening.”
