A 19-year-old identified as Jane Doe has sued a University of Chicago fraternity chapter, alleging she was sexually assaulted at a February party and that a fraternity member physically blocked her friends from going upstairs to look for her until the assaulter gave permission. The lawsuit, filed in Cook County court, names Alpha Delta Phi and its University of Chicago chapter and accuses the organization of ignoring prior sexual assault allegations against its members and failing to put meaningful safeguards in place.
The suit, detailed in court filings announced by the law firm Gould, Grieco & Hensley, states that a fraternity member gave Jane Doe a shot of alcohol during the Feb. 7, 2026 party, after which she was found unconscious in a room, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. A friend helped her leave the fraternity house, but Doe struggled to speak and walk while being led out. The next morning, she reportedly discovered bloodstains in her underwear and reported the alleged assault to Chicago police, who have an open investigation into the case.
The lawsuit also alleges that while her friends searched for her inside the house that night, a fraternity member physically blocked them from going upstairs until the man accused of the assault gave his permission, according to court filings cited by CBS News. The filing points to a history of police investigations into sexual assault reports tied to the chapter, the Sun-Times reports. Neither the University of Chicago nor Alpha Delta Phi responded to requests for comment, per the same account.
A Second Case Just Blocks Away
The lawsuit arrives just over a week after Chicago police opened an investigation into an Oct. 11 report of a sexual assault inside a bathroom during a party at the nearby Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house, as reported by CNN. Both houses sit along the same stretch of South University Avenue — Alpha Delta Phi in the 5700 block and Alpha Epsilon Pi at 5625 South University Avenue — immediately adjacent to UChicago's main campus buildings and student dormitories, CBS News notes.
Following the Oct. 11 incident, university officials identified a non-student person of interest using surveillance footage and banned that individual from campus, while Alpha Epsilon Pi's national office ordered the local chapter to suspend all events. Chapter representatives told the Guardian that designated sober monitors provided aid and clothing to the victim while waiting for emergency responders, saying there was no evidence that members had participated in or been aware of the assault.
Fraternities Operate Outside Official Campus Oversight
Neither Alpha Delta Phi nor Alpha Epsilon Pi is an officially Recognized Student Organization at the University of Chicago, since non-professional fraternities operate off-campus, according to the Chicago Maroon. Even so, campus policy maintains that enrolled students participating in Greek life remain subject to university conduct rules and Title IX disciplinary procedures, the student paper reports. The arrangement places fraternity houses outside the University's official RSO structure.
The University of Chicago's annual campus security and fire safety report recorded 10 rapes and 19 forcible sex offenses on or near campus between 2023 and 2025, CBS News reported. Illinois law separately requires all higher education institutions in the state to maintain comprehensive sexual violence prevention programs, designate survivor resources, and submit annual public reports on sexual misconduct complaints under the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act, according to the Education Commission of the States.
Part of a Wider National Reckoning
The Sun-Times reported that the Jane Doe lawsuit comes amid a reported gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity house in upstate New York that has spurred a nationwide reckoning over sexual assault on campus. That case stems from a September 2026 civil lawsuit accusing seven members of Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity of an October 2024 drug-facilitated gang rape, which prompted New York's governor to appoint a special prosecutor, according to the Guardian — a case Hoodline has previously reported on.
That disclosure helped spark nationwide walkouts and rallies in October at campuses including Columbia University, Duke University, and the University of Delaware, with student organizers demanding stronger university action on fraternity sexual violence. Hoodline has covered the Columbia walkout for Cornell's Jane Doe as part of that wave, and reported separately on how similar allegations have drawn scrutiny to other schools' responses in a recent piece on Spelman, Morehouse, and their medical school. As the UChicago case moves through Cook County court, the Chicago police investigations into both the Alpha Delta Phi and Alpha Epsilon Pi incidents remain open.
