Administration Claims No Risk After Rape
BY NINA LALLI

There have been no arrests yet in the case of the alleged rape outside Drag Ball on April 14. A woman went to the police at 11:20 p.m. reporting that she had been raped in the parking lot outside Wilder Hall. She was subsequently brought to a sexual assault care unit in Lorain.
The administration became aware of the attack on Sunday evening and fired a part-time security officer a few days later. There had been allegations indicating he was the assailant and the school dismissed him when he “failed to cooperate,” Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith said. The security guard was not on duty at the time of the assault. 
College President Nancy Dye said the College’s involvement ended there. “The only role we can play is disciplining, which we did swiftly,” she said. 
The police cannot confirm whether they have any suspects. Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith said, “I’m not even sure that the complaint has been formalized.”
The administration did not issue an all-campus bulletin because the incident did not involve a student. Therefore, Dye and Goldsmith feel confident that no one is at risk in the wake of the attack. “What makes the difference between notification and non-notification is the risk [to students],” Dye said.
Goldsmith voiced the same judgement, “We determined that an all-campus bulletin was not warranted because we know who the accused was and determined that there was nothing about the incident that posed any threat to students,” he said.
Goldsmith went on to say, “It is never possible to fully guarantee students’ safety, but we made the best judgement possible under the circumstances and it is important to reserve all-campus bulletins for instances in which students are genuinely at risk so that the impact of the bulletins is not diminished by their frequency.” 
Dye said she did not think it significant that the security guard was a part-time employee. “We have made a real effort in food service to cut back the number of temporary part-time employees, which has crept up over the last few years. Given the nature of the security department, it’s not surprising that we have a few part-time people. I don’t think we have a large number.”
Goldsmith concurred, saying, “I would disagree that part-time employees in Safety and Security compromise the safety of the students, I don’t think that’s true.” 
The security guard was not a member of the union either. “That has not been seen as a factor intrinsic to what took place,” Dye said. 
“I don’t know any connection between this particular event and Drag Ball. This spring I have heard a lot of students raise new concern or heightened concern, and we need to look at that,” Dye said. 

On the question of the future of Drag Ball, she said the school is not considering ending the tradition, but that she was aware of student concern about increased sexual assaults surrounding the event.
Dye also noted the problem of extreme intoxication at the event. “There is a connection between intoxication on a campus and violent sexual behavior on a campus,” she said, concluding that the two issues should be dealt with in relation to one another.
She also made reference to the number of non-Oberlin students who attend the event each year. “[The event] is very large. It taxes our security and it’s very difficult to control who comes,” she said. 
Baymiller also said that the number of non-Oberlin students who attend the event adds to the concern. “Having guests adds another factor to it. It’s not entirely a student event,” he said. He said that this was less of a concern than other factors. 
According to Chris Baymiller, assistant director of the Student Union, one person who was not allowed into Drag Ball may have been the woman who was allegedly raped. He said one of his employees decided not to allow a woman into Wilder because she was too inebriated and was “claiming she was a faculty member, demanding to be let in but was told she could not come in”
Baymiller said he congratulated the employee who made this decision. “We don’t want intoxicated people coming into the Ball,” he said. 
Baymiller did not know the exact time of the incident and cannot confirm there was a connection to the rape but thinks it is possible. He did not know about the alleged rape until he read last week’s article in the Review. 
Both Goldsmith and Baymiller said Drag Ball was successful in terms of security. “A very large number of Safety and Security officers worked long hours to ensure that the Drag Ball went well, which it did,” Goldsmith said. 
Baymiller said this year’s Drag Ball had more staff than any before it. There were eight security guards, 10 peacekeepers, about 40 Student union workers and about three or four professional staff members (meaning Student Union Staff). Of course, Drag Ball has also become larger over the years. “We felt the number of people that attend the event and the ‘carnival atmosphere’ that occurs, having more eyes on the entire event was just prudent on our part,” he said. 

Baymiller said in the early years of the Drag Ball tradition, the Student Union did not allow any non-college students to attend, for fear that the community might react negatively to the costumes. Even the Plain Dealer was refused admission into Wilder to do a preview of the event. The anticipation of possible gay-bashing is not the biggest problem today, however. “those problems have not developed,” Baymiller said. 
There were some arrests connected to intoxication, and a few people were brought to the hospital due to alcohol poisoning, but the number was lower than that of last year. 
Baymiller was overall satisfied with the event, “I thought the Ball went extremely well and people enjoyed themselves. That said, I’m glad it’s over.”