University reacts to assault

Amidst the investigation of a reported rape that occurred in a residence hall at the University of South Dakota, university officials are handling the situation the way they see fit, said Tena Haraldson, director of USD media relations.

Since the Oct. 6 incident at Coyote Village, the Student Services Office has issued no formal statement informing the campus population about the alleged assault.

However, the SSO did send out an email five days after the reported sexual assault to students living on campus entitled “Campus Safety Reminder,” which included 12 tips on how to stay safe, but it did not mention the alleged assault.

Haraldson said while one of the main concerns for the university is its students, the administration is also trying to be mindful of the two students involved and their right to due process.

“We’re actively waiting for the outcome of the investigation,” she said.

Although Dean of Students Kim Grieve said the SSO is being “transparent,” with residents of Coyote Village and that housing staff is giving out information only when asked by residents, sophomore Matthew Shore does not think the university is dealing with the situation to its fullest capacity.

“Tell people — put something up online saying this is what happened, it does happen and this is what we do to prevent it,” Shore said.

Details of the reported rape have surfaced on various platforms of social media, which is how sophomore Sara Thomason learned about the investigation.

“I didn’t hear about it until a few days afterwards,” Thomason said. “I saw people talking about it on Facebook and it freaked me out.”

In regards to how the university is addressing the alleged rape with prospective students visiting the campus, Kendra Howard, admissions campus visit coordinator, refused to comment on how student ambassadors are being prepped to answer questions about the reported assault.

Phil Carter, manager of media relations, said Oct. 10 a main reason the SSO did not issue a statement regarding the reported rape is because they don’t want to overuse the campus alert system, Everbridge. Carter said the SSO also feels this was “an isolated incident.”

“(The SSO) wants to take everything into consideration,” Carter said.

But first-year Jessica Hammes said this kind of issue is not “isolated” and is a concern for all people on campus.

“It would be really useful if USD provided an incident text service or if housing could text you if something like that happened to warn students in the dorms,” she said.

However, senior Kelly Costlet views the situation in a different light.

“I’ve been around long enough where we have had other instances (like this occur),” Costlet said. “You can’t really be warned — you just have to be smart about it and be aware of your surroundings.”

Grieve also said university officials did not send out an alert message to students because they knew the people involved, and determined “it was not an immediate threat to the campus.”

First year Nathan DeFou heard about the incident from his peers, but said he expected the university to let students know what had happened.

“I was really surprised to not find an email on myU or anything like that,” DeFou said. “I follow UPD on Twitter and that’s helpful sometimes — they should use that more often to inform students of things like this.”

Grieve said in the 14 months she has been at USD, she is not sure if protocol has changed when dealing with reported sexual assaults on campus, but that USD’s campus-wide alerts are only sent out if it is a significant emergency or a dangerous situation involving an immediate threat to the safety of students or staff.

Referring to the university’s housing policy, Shore suggested at clarifying some of points within the document.

“We already have a policy about not letting people through the doors, (and) maybe (they need to) expand on that,” Shore said.