Alleged Rape Outside Drag Ball, No Arrests
Security Officer Fired by School, Incident Under Investigation
BY NINA LALLI and ADRIAN LEUNG

A woman was allegedly raped during Drag Ball, according to information released by the Oberlin Police Department Thursday. No charges were filed, and the identities of the alleged victim and assailant have not been released.
The alleged ape occurred in the parking lot of Wilder Hall on the night of April 14, according to the complaint filed at 11:20 p.m. that night.
According to Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith, the alleged assailant is a Safety and Security officer who has since been fired. Since his identity was not released, he was unable to be reached for comment. Bob Jones, interim director of Safety and Security, was also unavailable. 
“It is my understanding that the allegations were made against a part-time Safety and Security officer,” Goldsmith said. “Following an internal investigation, the officer was released due to his failure to comply with College and departmental policies while in the course of his duties.” Despite the seriousness of the allegation against a member of Safety and Security, Goldsmith said he did not think that security needed to be increased at Drag Ball. “Safety and Security was in full force. They did an outstanding job in ensuring the safety of the event,” he said.
Goldsmith went on to emphasize the fact that allegations have not been confirmed. “The matter of the allegations is the subject of a police investigation. No determination has been made about those allegations, and speculation about them would be inappropriate,” he said.
Little information about the complainant has been released, but Goldsmith emphasized that she is not a member of the student body, saying, “This situation does not involve any students.” 
Sergeant Kevin Scalli and reporting Officer Cliff Barnes met with the complainant in Wilder the night of the alleged assault. Barnes spoke to her briefly and “determined that the complainant had no injuries that required immediate medical attention,” according to the section of the police report approved for release. 
The officers then brought the complainant to the Sexual Assault Care Unit of Lorain county at the Nord Center. 
When asked about the incident, Melanie Fundak of the Nord Center declined to comment. “We would never release any information at all about any patient…or even acknowledge that a particular person was here. That’s a breach of their privacy,” she said.
The OPD refused to confirm anything beyond the report, including whether charges were pressed or whether they had suspects. 
Nancy Dye, president of the College, did not return repeated phone calls made by the Review.
The Sexual Assault Support Team could not confirm any knowledge of the incident, due to their confidentiality policy.
Goldsmith said, “Our first thought was to be absolutely certain that students were not at risk and we have every confidence that there is no risk to students stemming from this incident.”
Some argue that Drag Ball is notorious for its increase in sexual assault problems. Co-Chair of SAST, senior Rachel Barrett said SAST members recognized a pattern of consistently increased number of complaints of sexual assault at Drag Ball and Safer Sex Night than at other times of the year.
“I feel like a lot of people look at those nights as an excuse to act out. People are totally smashed and do things they would never normally do,” she said.
Barrett went on to say, “If someone wanted to come to Drag Ball butt-ass naked and drunk, they still wouldn’t be asking to be assaulted, but it’s a permissive environment,” she said.
Barrett said that the number of reported assaults is not representative of the actual number of these cases. “It’s important to remember that for every person who will go to the police, there are dozens who would never tell anyone,” she said.
SAST has implemented a program called “Peacekeepers” where students help mediate arguments and decrease the number of sexual assault and harassment incidents at parties and events. 
The Peacekeepers were trained in verbal de-escalation techniques by the Oberlin Peace Activists League, and during Drag Ball, they were instructed by Chris Baymiller, assistant director of the Student Union, as to which areas of Wilder to focus their attention on. These included bathrooms and any particularly crowded areas. 
“On the one hand, I wished we didn’t have to deal with so many drunk people, but then again, it’s those people who might have been targets,” Barrett said.
The Oberlin Police Department continues to investigate the alleged rape.