Sexual assault taints first week back at Union
Gallivan, Cara
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: News
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In the early morning hours of Monday, September 3-mere hours after the class of 2011 waved goodbye to their parents-a student reported being sexual assaulted in an on-campus residence.
Neither faculty nor the administration can confirm or deny any details of the incident, including the victim's class year or information on the accused. Nonetheless, WNYT News Channel 13 Albany speculatively reported that two male student athletes perpetrated the assault, and that the female student was a freshman.
In recognition of both the delicacy of confidentiality in this matter and the fact that Union is required by law to defer the investigation to the Schenectady Police Department, the Concordiensis will not endeavor to make such claims regarding details of the incident. Thus far, no one has been charged, and according to the initial crime alert issued by Director of Campus Safety Bill Sickinger, the college is in complete cooperation with the police and thus cannot disclose any information regarding the ongoing investigation.
According to Chair of the Sexual Assault and Harassment Committee (SAHC) Andrew Feffer, "Rape is a violent felony. The police are best suited to investigate violent felonies, and the court system, however flawed, remains the best agency for the adjudication and prosecution of such crimes."
If anything, this incident, especially memorable for its occurrence so early in the new academic year, serves as a reminder of the troubling prevalence of sexual assault at Union.
While the members of the Class of 2011 hardly expected their first phone call home to include such news, sexual assault is, in fact, alarmingly common at Union.
Through their 2005-2006 survey on sexual assault and harassment at Union , the Standing Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment found "what most members of the college community know by personal experience, word of mouth and rumor: that sexual assault and harassment continue to be problems at Union College and that the levels of their occurrence are unacceptably high."
Neither faculty nor the administration can confirm or deny any details of the incident, including the victim's class year or information on the accused. Nonetheless, WNYT News Channel 13 Albany speculatively reported that two male student athletes perpetrated the assault, and that the female student was a freshman.
In recognition of both the delicacy of confidentiality in this matter and the fact that Union is required by law to defer the investigation to the Schenectady Police Department, the Concordiensis will not endeavor to make such claims regarding details of the incident. Thus far, no one has been charged, and according to the initial crime alert issued by Director of Campus Safety Bill Sickinger, the college is in complete cooperation with the police and thus cannot disclose any information regarding the ongoing investigation.
According to Chair of the Sexual Assault and Harassment Committee (SAHC) Andrew Feffer, "Rape is a violent felony. The police are best suited to investigate violent felonies, and the court system, however flawed, remains the best agency for the adjudication and prosecution of such crimes."
If anything, this incident, especially memorable for its occurrence so early in the new academic year, serves as a reminder of the troubling prevalence of sexual assault at Union.
While the members of the Class of 2011 hardly expected their first phone call home to include such news, sexual assault is, in fact, alarmingly common at Union.
Through their 2005-2006 survey on sexual assault and harassment at Union , the Standing Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment found "what most members of the college community know by personal experience, word of mouth and rumor: that sexual assault and harassment continue to be problems at Union College and that the levels of their occurrence are unacceptably high."
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