UW-Madison has confirmed it received two separate reports this fall from students who said they were drugged and then sexually assaulted, with both cases connected in some way to off-campus fraternity houses. One report describes a victim fondled at two different fraternity houses after a suspected drugging overnight; the other describes a victim who says they were later sexually assaulted inside a dorm on the southeast part of campus. The university has not named the fraternities, the residence hall, the victims or any suspects.
According to wmtv15news.com, the university received both reports on a Sunday, and at least one of them was passed along to the Madison Police Department. The outlet reports that the university did not name the fraternities or dorm involved, leaving major gaps in what the public knows about where exactly these alleged incidents took place.
Per The Badger Herald, the first report involves a student who said they were possibly drugged overnight between Sept. 26 and Sept. 27 at an off-campus fraternity house. The same victim reported to the university that they were fondled at two different frat houses that night, according to the student paper's reporting.
A Second Report Tied to a Southeast-Campus Dorm
The second report, per the same Badger Herald account, describes a student who said they were possibly drugged at an off-campus fraternity house on Sept. 17. That victim claimed they were later sexually assaulted in a dorm on the southeast part of campus.
WISN reports that in this second case, the university said the victim and the suspect know each other. The station also reports that this incident was not reported to police and that there is no active police investigation tied to it, according to WISN.
Conflicting Accounts on the Status of the Police Investigation
Accounts differ on where the criminal side of this story stands. WISN reports that Madison police confirmed on a Tuesday that both investigations are now closed. But FOX6 News Milwaukee, in the segment that first brought this story to wider attention Wednesday, framed the reports as still under investigation. Hoodline could not independently reconcile these differing accounts of the case status.
FOX6's coverage included an interview with Dana Pellebon of the RCC Sexual Violence Resource Center in Madison, who joined the station to discuss the reports with viewers.
Fraternities Have Faced Other Trouble on Campus This Fall
These two reports surface as fraternities near UW-Madison have already drawn scrutiny in recent weeks. Wisconsin Public Radio has reported that Madison police were investigating alleged hazing at the off-campus Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity residence, where about 30 partially clothed men were reportedly found. Officers arrested the fraternity's president and vice president on tentative charges of hazing and disorderly conduct, according to Wisconsin Public Radio, though prosecutors had not filed criminal charges as of the Friday morning cited in that report. The outlet also noted that UW-Madison's conduct office was separately investigating any students implicated in that incident through its nonacademic misconduct process.
Fraternity-related sexual assault allegations have also made headlines elsewhere this fall. NPR reported that prosecutors were reopening an investigation into an alleged gang rape of a former Cornell University student after a civil lawsuit was filed earlier that month, according to NPR. That case remains a separate matter from the Madison reports, but it underscores the renewed national attention on how colleges and police handle allegations tied to fraternity houses.
For now, the central facts in the Madison case remain limited to what the university itself has confirmed: two reports, two alleged victims, and no public identification of the fraternities, the dorm, or anyone involved. What becomes of the criminal side of the case is still murky given the conflicting statements about whether Madison police have closed their files or are still working the reports.
