Update on Thursday, October 6, at 4:19 p.m.
While still refusing to appear on camera or sit down for an interview, an official with the University of Georgia Division of Marketing & Communications released a lengthy response to questions about sexual assault on campus posed by Grady Newsource Monday.
The statement read, in part, “The University of Georgia Police Department investigates every individual report of sexual assault that it receives. However, many of the reports are submitted by a third-party, and often the survivor declines to have contact with law enforcement.”
“With regard to the location of each incident, the UGA Equal Opportunity Office (EOO) says the reports are from members of the UGA community which include students who live in the residence halls,” the statement continued.
The statement, which was emailed to Grady Newsource reporter Dillon Richards late Thursday afternoon, came nearly four full business days after Newsource originally requested to speak with university officials on this subject.
On Monday, Newsource reported that, according to new numbers released by the university, only one of 29 rapes reported to the University of Georgia Police Department since 2013 has resulted in an arrest, and 75% of reported rapes on campus come from residence halls.
You can view the full emailed statement here. A reporter’s personal phone number is redacted, as is the URL of the original email.
Update on Wednesday, October 5, at 9:30 a.m.
The University of Georgia has yet to answer questions posed in this report Monday.
Late Monday afternoon, Newsource was able to reach Open Records Officer Bob Taylor who said he was working “feverishly” to find someone who could answer questions posed in this article. Those questions include:
- Why do so many of the rape reports on campus comes from residence halls?
- Why do so few of the rape reports on UGA’s campus result in an arrest?
- From which residence halls do the rape reports most often come?
- What is the university doing to combat sexual assault and rape on campus?
The original article follows below.
Original article posted Monday, October 3, at 1:00 p.m.
ATHENS, Ga. — In the past three years, 75% of rapes reported to the University of Georgia Police Department occurred at campus residence halls, according to a report released by the university.
The University of Georgia released its annual Safe and Secure report September 30, 2016. Included in the document was a listing of 29 rapes reported on campus in the last three years. 22 of the 29 rapes reported are listed as occurring at UGA residence halls.
It’s unclear yet which residence halls they came from or why the investigations rarely resulted in arrests. Two of the 13 reported rapes in 2015 are listed on the document as “unfounded.”
Grady Newsource has repeatedly reached out to the office of the Vice President for Marketing and Communications to find out more detail about the reported crimes. Our calls and emails were not returned by 1:00 p.m., at the time this story was published.
The university lists the following resources for sexual assault victims:
- The University of Georgia Police Department can be reached at (706) 542-2200 or 911.
- The University Health Center’s Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention center can be reached at (706) 542-SAFE.
- Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) can be reached in an emergency at (706) 542-2200
By: Dillon Richards
This article was updated at 6:00 p.m. to fix a broken link and a graphic.
