SANTA CLARA — Santa Clara University students say there have been 30 sexual assaults or incidents involving a date rape drug since the school year resumed last month. Hundreds turned out for a rally on Friday, holding signs that read “Support survivors” and “Stop protecting rapists,” to demand action from the university.
Student body president Abigail Alvarez sent an email to the Santa Clara University community on September 24, saying that Greek life leaders held a meeting the previous day and estimated that at least 30 cases of drugging or sexual assault were brought up to them in the past week. Alvarez said date rape drugs and roofies were also used “at a higher rate” that week “than ever before.”
But Lisa Kloppenberg, Acting President of Santa Clara University, said in an emailed statement on September 29 that the school has received two third-party allegations of drugging since September 19 and one allegation of sexual assault and drugging, in which the person decided not to formally report.
“Unfortunately, lacking sufficient information, these reports have not led to actionable cases,” Kloppenberg said.
The Santa Clara Police Department said in a statement that it received a referral from Santa Clara University staff about a sexual assault allegation and police “reached out to that involved party, and they did not want to pursue or participate in an investigation.”
Students insist there are many more cases than have been reported to authorities.
“I know of four people who were roofied and I had a different person say they could name 13 people,” Alvarez said, adding that the 30 incidents also included allegations of other types of sexual harassment, including groping and unwelcome advances. “This is my last year here but I’ve never heard of it widespread like this.”
Clare MacMillin, 20, a junior at the university, helped organize the demonstration and said several hundred people showed up to the rally. MacMillin cited the school’s investigation process as a possible deterrent to survivors formally coming forward.
“I think the big reason for this is oftentimes people don’t feel comfortable coming forward to a school because that can create a much more bureaucratic process,” she said. “In some instances they may be forced to give up or forfeit their anonymity, which can make people feel uncomfortable.”
Santa Clara University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX’s policy regarding sexual misconduct allegations states: “The privacy of all parties to a complaint of gender-based discrimination and sexual misconduct must be respected, except insofar as it interferes with the University’s obligation to fully investigate allegations of sexual misconduct. Where privacy is not strictly kept, it will still be tightly controlled on a need-to-know basis.”
Interim Title IX Director Jenna Elliott didn’t respond to a request for comment regarding the discrepancy between the 30 allegations in Alvarez’s email and the three mentioned in the university’s email. Elliott explained the school’s investigation process in a separate email, saying: “Students generally choose to report this information to someone they trust,” as well as referred to the university’s Title IX website for more information.
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), which operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, said that 20% of female students ages 18 to 24 report sexual violence allegations to law enforcement compared to 32% of women in the same age group who aren’t students, citing U.S. Department of Justice statistics. Twenty-six percent of female students said they didn’t report because “it was a personal matter” and 20% said it was due to “fear of reprisal.”
“I’ve had a lot of friends go through sexual assault and domestic violence and I wanted to make sure that the information was out there. A lot of people experience sexual assault and don’t acknowledge it,” said a student at the rally, whose name is being withheld because she is a survivor. “That’s exactly what happened to me. I went through this and didn’t have the education and the resources to know that what happened to me wasn’t OK.”
Santa Clara University was sued by two students in 2020, who said the school didn’t protect them from sexual assault by classmates.