NewsLocal News

Actions

CU Boulder students protest fraternity as police investigate two sexual assault cases

end rape culture at cu.jpg
Posted at 9:18 PM, Nov 05, 2021
and last updated 2021-11-06 00:52:14-04

BOULDER, Colo. — More than 100 University of Colorado Boulder students protested on Friday in front of a Boulder fraternity house where two women say they were sexually assaulted.

According to the Boulder Police Department, one woman reported being sexually assaulted on Halloween, and the other woman reported a sexual assault between Oct. 23 and Oct. 24. Both allegations point to the same fraternity house along the 1100 block of 12th Street.

No one has been arrested in the matter, according to Boulder police spokesperson Stephen Redfearn.

"There's a lot of things that we need to do before we are able to take that next step of interviewing someone who might be named as a suspect," Redfearn said.

A large group of students marched from campus to the fraternity house in question and demonstrated in front of it.

Student Taylor Spikell said the "assault culture on campus needs to stop."

Niko Ortega, another student, says he wants to see more accountability.

"I think it's really important that when something like this happens in a fraternity, that they're either shutdown or immediately investigated. I think that a 'one strike and your out' is a very harsh policy, but the thing is, a lot of these things have been happening at a lot of these fraternities," Ortega said.

The governing body of 21 fraternities in Boulder known as the Interfraternity Council, issued a statement on their website that read in part "The IFC on the Hill has and will continue to cooperate with University of Colorado and Boulder Police investigations. We deplore inappropriate sexual conduct and when presented with evidence of such conduct, we take action with a ember chapter within the context of our constitution and bylaws. The IFC on the Hill is also committed to ensuring our member chapters are capable of holding its individual members accountable for their actions.

Llen Pomeroy, a spokesperson for the Institutional Equity and Compliance at CU Boulder, said the university's sexual misconduct policy applies both on and off campus.

"So, to the extent that there are alleged incidents that occur on the campus or in the surrounding community in Boulder, our policies cover both of those scenarios."

Pomeroy went on to say that CU holds "people accountable when they are found responsible for sexual misconduct and that's true of students, faculty and staff."

More than 1 in 4 undergraduate female students have reported experiencing sexual assault as a student at CU, according to the university's latest survey, which was back in 2015. CU says that aligns with national figures and that a new survey is underway.