UCLA investigates 2 reported sexual assaults on campus
UCLA officials are investigating reports that two female students were sexually assaulted by a male student in separate incidents at a campus dorm over the summer.
All three students are incoming freshmen and members of the university’s Academic Advancement Program for first-generation and low-income students, including those from racial or ethnic groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education. They were attending a residential program aimed at easing their entry to the university when the assaults allegedly occurred July 30 and 31 at Rieber Vista, a seven-story residence hall.
A crime alert was posted throughout the campus, stating that the suspect was known to one of the females.
The other student was befriended by the suspect, the bulletin said.
According to a UCLA police log, the first call came in July 31 from the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica Hospital.
Several hours later, the second call arrived from Arthur Ashe Building, the site of the Student Health and Wellness Center.
Both students are declining to speak to police investigators and neither wants officials to seek prosecution, said Nancy Greenstein, UCLA Police Department spokeswoman.
The matter is being investigated administratively by the dean of students, she said.
“We wanted to alert students that this was a person who’s likely spending time in that hall,” Greenstein said.
“While no police report has been filed, UCLA is taking the allegations seriously and is committed to ensuring the safety of students on campus,” said Carol Stogsdill, senior executive director of UCLA’s media relations office.
The Academic Advancement Program provides academic advising, workshops, mentoring for graduate and professional schools, and scholarships to more than 6,000 UCLA undergraduates, according to a statement on its website from director Charles J. Alexander.
Alexander held a meeting Monday with 40 Academic Advancement students to discuss the assault reports.
“While everybody would like to know as much as they can about what concerns them, and [officials] are bound by a lot of privacy issues, students received as candid a report from the leadership as they could,” Stogsdill said.
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