What to know about multiple allegations of drugging, sexual assaults at USC’s Sigma Nu

USC has been roiled by multiple allegations of drugging and sexual assault during parties at the university’s chapter of Sigma Nu and other unnamed locations.

What we know

The university received six reports of students alleging they had been drugged at Sigma Nu on Sept. 24, with one also alleging she had been sexually assaulted, according to Oct. 21 crime logs from the USC Department of Public Safety. An additional 12 reports of sexual assault and battery and nine reports of drugging taking place at various times, some allegedly involving other unnamed fraternities, have been filed since Oct. 22.

USC actions

The university has suspended the Sigma Nu chapter and is enforcing the Interfraternity Council’s voluntary stop to all fraternity social gatherings while the situation is being reviewed.

Last Friday, officials acknowledged a “troubling delay” in warning the campus community about allegations of drugging and sexual assault at the Sigma Nu fraternity house last month as criticism intensifies over the university’s handling of the crisis. A confidential campus reporting service received five to seven disclosures of possible drugging and assault in late September and took the rare step of informing university authorities Sept. 30. But USC officials did not notify the community until Oct. 20 — four days after another student reported sexual assault at Sigma Nu on Oct. 16.

Digging deeper

Here’s The Times’ full coverage of the issue: