Despite no charges being filed, sexual assault allegations made against several Marquette student athletes during the 2010-2011 school year rocked campus, revealing flaws in university policies that prompted changes in how sexual assault is reported on campus.
Those flaws were exposed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office, which issued a statement in May criticizing the university’s investigation of the allegations.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John T. Chisholm said the university had a legal obligation to report the allegations to police, but it did not.
“No law enforcement agency was able to adequately investigate this matter at the time it occurred,” Chisholm said in a statement released May 26. “The subsequent efforts by the Milwaukee Police Department were inhibited by the fact that it did not receive this information until months after it happened.”
Kate Venne, director of university communication, said Marquette changed its procedures after meeting with the DA’s office on April 29. All incidents of sexual assault are now reported to MPD.
The university previously contacted MPD only if requested by the alleged victim. Chisholm claimed this is illegal.
“Because Marquette University Public Safety is a private security licensee and not a sworn police force, it has an obligation to report crimes to the Milwaukee Police Department,” Chisholm said.
Two separate incidents were reported to DPS on Oct. 31, 2010 and Feb. 27, 2011.
As reported in a Marquette Tribune article from March 29, in the October case, a student reported four male student athletes sexually assaulted her. MPD was not contacted about the incident. The incident in February involved another student who reported a male student athlete sexually assaulted her, which was also reported in a Marquette Tribune article from April 19.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, the student involved in the February incident said a DPS officer “discouraged her from making an official report with police or campus officials” after meeting with DPS for a second time.
The student then met with a detective from MPD after the October case was made public in late March. She later met with school administrators to discuss the allegations and an official report was filed with DPS on March 31.
The student withdrew from classes on April 14, nine days after meeting with the DA’s office.