Another woman alleges sexual assault at fraternity near University of Chicago

By Karina Tsui, Holly Yan, CNN

(CNN) — The University of Chicago is set to hold a public safety meeting Wednesday night after a woman recently reported she was sexually assaulted at a fraternity house near campus and another woman filed a lawsuit claiming she was sexually assaulted at a different fraternity house in February.

A person of interest is now banned from campus after a 21-year-old woman said she was sexually assaulted at a nearby fraternity house on October 11, the university said last week. Chicago police are investigating.

And on Monday, a 19-year-old college student identified as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit saying she was sexually assaulted by a fraternity member at an Alpha Delta Phi party in February.

“These allegations are very disturbing to the University community,” University of Chicago spokesperson Gerald McSwiggan told CNN in response to the lawsuit. He noted the school is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, but it “is committed to addressing and preventing incidents of sexual assault.”

Both allegations come as universities face heightened scrutiny after an alleged gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity house spurred a nationwide debate over how schools handle sexual assault claims.

And at the University of Arizona, a sorority member told campus police she was sexually assaulted by two men at a fraternity house in late August, according to search warrant records cited by the Associated Press.

What the lawsuit says

In the alleged February incident near the University of Chicago, Doe attended a party at the Alpha Delta Phi house and accepted a shot of unidentified alcohol from a fraternity brother that quickly made her feel “unsteady and lightheaded,” her lawsuit states.

The fraternity brother then led Doe to a secluded bedroom on another floor, where he allegedly made “unwanted and nonconsensual sexual advances” after she “lost all physical and verbal ability to refuse” him, according to the lawsuit.

“Jane Doe was mentally and physically incapable of providing consent,” the suit alleges.

Doe pleaded with the man to use a condom, but he refused, the complaint says. The fraternity brother then penetrated her “without her consent” and left her “alone and unconscious in the room,” the lawsuit says.

Doe’s friend was initially blocked by other fraternity brothers from going upstairs to check on her until a member who saw Doe unconscious told them to let the friend up, according to the lawsuit. The friend found Doe unconscious and helped her out of the house, the complaint states.

The next morning, Doe found bloodstains in her underwear, reported the incident to the Chicago Police Department and named the fraternity brother who allegedly sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit says.

The suit names Alpha Delta Phi Inc. and the Chicago Society of Alpha Delta Phi as defendants. The University of Chicago is not named as a defendant. CNN obtained the lawsuit from The Chicago Maroon, the university’s student newspaper, which was first to report on it.

Doe does not attend the University of Chicago, her attorney Georgia Booth told CNN affiliate WLS.

The suit names the University of Chicago as a “respondent in discovery,” an Illinois procedure that lets Doe seek information from the school and ask to add it as a defendant if the evidence warrants.

What police and the fraternity say

Chicago police told CNN a 19-year-old woman said she was sexually assaulted around 1 a.m. February 8 inside a residence on the 5700 block of South University Avenue and later went to a hospital.

Police did not name the fraternity. But Doe told officers she was assaulted at the fraternity’s address on that same block, according to the lawsuit. The incident — now more than eight months old — remains under investigation.

Alpha Delta Phi said it suspended the member involved after learning of the allegations.

“The conduct described is deeply troubling and inconsistent with our values,” the fraternity said in a statement. Alpha Delta Phi said it would “cooperate with law enforcement as appropriate” but could not discuss specifics because of the active lawsuit.

Doe’s suit claims the fraternity failed to abide by its own rules of conduct, which include providing sober monitors at events and protecting against sexual assault by its members.

The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 on each of four counts, citing Doe’s “severe and permanent psychological and emotional distress” and other harms.

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