SDSU FAILING STUDENTS AFTER RAPE ALLEGATION

Last year, the ranked San Diego State University football team was the talk of the town. It lost only two games, including the Mountain West Championship game. But now the season is being seen in a new light, and it may ultimately be remembered most for shocking off-field allegations that should disturb every student on campus — and that show how little university officials did to keep students safe and aware when alerted to a rape accusation.

On Oct. 15, the Aztecs beat San Jose State University in overtime to be 6-0 halfway through a regular season the team hoped it might finish undefeated. The next day, five players allegedly “raped an unconscious girl and left her bloodied and bruised at a house party off campus,” according to a June 3 investigative report from the Los Angeles Times that was based on anonymous reporting system messages, internal campus records and interviews.

It was the first time the allegations surfaced publicly although police and university officials learned about them within days of the alleged assault. Police officials asked the university not to interfere with its investigation but that was more than seven months ago and university officials have an obligation to keep their students secure and informed. On campus? Off campus? It shouldn’t matter when students are involved. That university officials stood by idly then is beyond disturbing. Before last week’s report in the Los Angeles Times, the university had not launched any internal investigation or any student disciplinary proceedings — and they had not alerted the campus that police were investigating the reported sexual assault involving students or asked potential witnesses to contact the authorities. After the news broke, SDSU President Adela de la Torre wrote that she was heartbroken about the report but stood by the university’s inaction, and the university created a FAQ page about the incident.

That SDSU addressed it in detail June 3 — and updated the page Monday — shows officials could have done so much earlier and that a campuswide notification was crucial, especially with campus safety paramount and due process a vital part of campus life. Even if law enforcement had asked for some time to conduct its own investigation, that doesn’t mean that university officials should do nothing for months as police “investigate.”

What would you have done in their shoes? You decide. On Oct. 26, according to the Los Angeles Times, a university official reviewed a message a student-athlete sent through the university’s anonymous reporting system that read, “5 football players raped an unconscious girl at a football party two weeks ago.” One was described as a senior and named, and the others were described as freshmen, giving authorities a start on any investigation.

A second anonymous report from a student-athlete read: “99% of the football players are aware of the 5-person rape so the rest of the student-athletes are left wondering why nothing is being done.”

Josh Mays, an associate vice president who oversees campus public safety, told the Los Angeles Times why SDSU did not act, saying that a parallel Title IX university investigation would “willfully interfere” and “jeopardize any chance of the truth and justice through the criminal investigation.” But experts told the Times it was troubling that San Diego State University held off on taking any action for nearly an entire academic year given its obligation to keep the campus community free from harm.

No less troubling? Mays, then the university’s police chief, wrote in an email to another SDSU official on Oct. 27, “Please conduct your investigation. I suspect your team may be able to gather info that will only help SDPD. We have stood by long enough.”

The very next day, SDPD formally asked SDSU President Adela de la Torre to delay its probe “to ensure the criminal case is not compromised.”

Now the senior has graduated, limiting any SDSU investigation and underlining the wait as excessive with no end in sight. Monday, SDSU wrote, “SDPD did not and has not confirmed the identity of the victim or any witnesses, nor has SDPD confirmed the identity of any known suspect.” It’s not the only such delayed investigation at SDSU. This past December, a student accused university officials of failing to act promptly after she reported to campus police she had been raped in a co-ed dormitory.

In 2017, a story in The Daily Aztec about sexual violence on campus made clear why university notifications are vital: They can increase discussions about consent, bystander intervention and reporting. Allegations should be handled seriously, quickly and fairly, and students should be advised of them.