Sexual assault allegation at Chicago fraternity house puts campus safety in focus

Chicago: Police are investigating a woman's report that she was sexually assaulted during a fraternity party near the University of Chicago campus, an allegation that comes at a time of heightened awareness of sexual violence on college campuses.

Chicago police said no one had been charged Wednesday, a day after university officials posted an alert saying that a person of interest had been identified.

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The Chicago case comes amid an uproar over Cornell University 's handling of a woman's allegations that she was drugged and gang raped by fraternity members in 2024. A campus investigation led to internal disciplinary action by the university, but no criminal charges were ever filed.

The University of Chicago, a top-ranked U.S. research school with an enrollment of 18,000 students, said in a statement that a woman reported being sexually assaulted early Sunday during a party at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house.

The university said the perpetrator fled the house after being confronted by another person.

The 21-year-old woman reported the assault to police and went to a hospital for treatment, according to Chicago police. The university said she is not a student.

Chicago police did not immediately provide a copy of the incident report on the alleged attack when The Associated Press requested it Wednesday.

The Chicago Sun-Times, citing the police report, said the woman told police she had been drinking and dancing at the party before she began feeling unwell. The Sun-Times said the report stated two of the woman's friends then found her "not fully conscious" in a bathroom with a man and that both were partially undressed.

The friends told police that to get into the bathroom, they had to force their way through several men who were "cheering and appearing to encourage the activity inside," the Sun-Times reported.

Alpha Epsilon Pi said no fraternity members took part in the alleged attack or encouraged it. The fraternity's University of Chicago chapter said in a statement that its members rushed to help the woman after being alerted by one of her friends and ended the party immediately.

"There is no evidence at all that any AEPi members participated in this assault or were aware of it while it was transpiring," Jonathan Pierce, a spokesperson for the fraternity's national organization, said in a statement Wednesday.

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The fraternity said the perpetrator was chased out of the house and was recorded by cameras while fleeing.

University officials said the person of interest who has been identified is not a student or otherwise affiliated with the school.

The Cornell case came to light last month after a woman filed a lawsuit against the university and seven fraternity members, saying she was repeatedly assaulted at a fraternity house in October 2024. She went to campus police three weeks later and gave a detailed interview, but local prosecutors never pursued charges. The men she accused have denied wrongdoing.

Cornell announced Tuesday it's banning parties at fraternity houses until next year. The university said it will include New York State Police in investigations of campus sexual assaults.

Fraternities have also been under scrutiny at the University of Arizona, which suspended fraternity activities earlier this month following multiple reports of assault, hazing and other misconduct.