In an e-mail last week, Dean of Students Jeff Stocco notified the campus community that three incidents of sexual assault had been reported to campus authorities. According to one of the complainants, all three complaints were filed against one senior, male student. According to the email, the three students knew the perpetrator and all incidents took place during the 2008-09 academic year.

The complaints are being handled within the campus judicial system, not by local law enforcement. “The student should have the option to ask that it be dealt with off-campus,” Stocco said. “We encourage [the students] to pursue every avenue, but we basically follow the student’s wishes in this kind of situation.”

According to Stocco, he sent the e-mail because he is required by law to do so. Stocco specifically cited the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act), which requires campus authorities to “make timely reports to the campus community on crimes considered to be a threat to other students and employees.”

Stocco believes that the incidents reported do pose a serious or continuing threat to students or employees. However, he wanted to warn against unnecessarily alarming students. “Its our responsibility to let the campus know that we received a report,” Stocco said.

Though the student remained on campus, as of Wednesday, the e-mail was meant to warn students that such an event had been reported. The accused student was also given some restrictions, though Stocco refused to give any specifics.