New Details Emerge About Frat Party Where Sexual Assault Allegedly Occurred

CHICAGO—New details have emerged about a fraternity party near the University of Chicago campus where an alleged sexual assault was reported early Sunday morning in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood.

A 21-year-old woman reported that she was sexually assaulted early Sunday morning in the 5600 block of South University Avenue inside the Lambda chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) fraternity.

Members of AEPi said Monday in a statement on Instagram that “to the best of our knowledge, no one affiliated with AEPi was involved or complicit with this incident.”

Students learned that a sexual assault may have occurred at the AEPi fraternity house Sunday afternoon, when University of Chicago officials sent out an emergency alert.

According to the fraternity’s statement, the perpetrator was chased out of the building and was captured on various cameras as they fled. The suspect was later described by witnesses as a 5-foot-7-inch South Asian male with a a dark complexion, short hair on the sides and longer curly hair on top, wearing a black T-shirt, black jogging pants, and white shoes.

“We are working alongside authorities to provide additional details to the Chicago Police Department,” the AEPi statement read.

The party that the 21-year-old woman attended at the frat house started at 10:30 p.m. Saturday. The sexual assault was reported after midnight on Sunday at 1:50 a.m.

Fraternity members said they first became aware of the situation through one of the “sober monitors” being called over by the woman’s friend.

“We immediately responded, and multiple members of the fraternity, including our risk manager, arrived at the scene, providing assistance to the victim,” according to the statement.

The party was shut down immediately. A fraternity member stayed with the woman until police arrived, leaving only when officers asked him to.

AEPi’s national organization has since asked the chapter to not hold any parties or other events while the investigation is ongoing. The Chicago Police Department is conducting the investigation with support from University of Chicago campus police, but has not released any additional information about the suspect at the time of publication,” said the college’s independent student newspaper, the Chicago Maroon.

Meanwhile, AEPi said it would continue to support the investigation “to the fullest extent and offer our support in any way possible.”

“We condemn this violence unequivocally,” the fraternity stated, saying members were deeply disturbed by the sexual assault. “Our concern is first and foremost for the person harmed, whose privacy and dignity we ask everyone to respect.”

Anyone with information is urged to call the Chicago Police Department’s anonymous tip line at 833-408-0069 or submit a tip to CPDTip.com.

“Even a small detail may help the investigation.”