University of Southern California President Carol Folt has publicly aknowledged that school administrators waited too long to notify students of allegations of drugging and sexual assault at fraternity events.
The allegations center on incidents reported at parties at the Sigma Nu fraternity, where several assault victims have claimed drugs were slipped into their drinks without their consent.
Folt wrote in a letter released Friday that USC received between “five to seven confidential disclosures” in September of possible druggings and sexual assaults at Sigma Nu.
“We now know that there was a troubling delay in acting on this information, and specifically in evaluating it for notification to the community,” Folt wrote.
USC did not notify the student body of the allegations until late in the evening on Oct. 20.
“We recognize that it was upsetting to receive this information late in the evening, but once we determined that it raised serious and ongoing concerns about campus safety, we wanted to get the information to our community. We are examining how to better convey information like this in the future,” Folt wrote.
On Oct. 23, USC officials received additional reports of sexual assault and drugs being placed into drinks without consent at other fraternity houses across campus.
USC has placed Sigma Nu on interim suspension as the allegations are investigated, prohibiting it from hosting or organizing any gatherings at its house. USC’s Interfraternity Council has also temporarily halted social events in the wake of the allegations surfacing.
USC has also reportedly suspended Sigma Nu chapter president Ryan Schiffilea. The Los Angeles Police Department have identified Schiffilea as a suspect in the investigation of alleged assaults and druggings and Sigma Nu and other houses. He has not been arrested or charged as of Tuesday.
The allegations were “deeply disturbing,” Folt wrote to the USC community on Oct. 23. “They hurt people and go against everything we stand for as a community. We are sorry for the pain and anguish this is causing.”
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