On July 10, 2009, a Georgetown student was raped at her residence on the 3500 block of O Street, according to a report filed with the Metropolitan Police Department. Most of the student body, however, could be forgiven for not understanding the gravity of the event. Georgetown’s Department of Public Safety’s subsequent Public Safety Announcement, released five days later, described the incident as a “sexual assault,” a vague term whose varying degrees of seriousness can indicate anything from groping or fondling to rape.
By failing to detail what actually occurred on July 10, the University downplayed the seriousness of the rape. The obfuscation of the facts of the reported rape is especially baffling, considering that the perpetrator has not been identified and therefore presents a continued threat to women in the community.
Announcements about the “Cuddler” assaults regularly include details of what happened, even when it occurs off campus, and a 2008 PSA about a sexual assault included the fact that the victim was “digitally penetrated.” This time, the University chose vagaries over a concrete description.
This past spring, Georgetown responded quickly—and rightly so—to the defacement of several statues on Copley lawn. The University made it known in no uncertain terms that the vandalism would not be tolerated by the community. The speed and forcefulness of the University in responding to those misdemeanors illustrates Georgetown’s capacity to take action, and highlights its failure to act in this case.
The instances of vandalism were both upsetting and disturbing, but at no point was the safety of a single student in question. The rapist continues to pose a risk to women’s safety on campus and in the surrounding neighborhood. While Georgetown is most assuredly cooperating with MPD in every possible way to catch him, it failed to alert the campus to what actually occurred that night and its obfuscation leaves students at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to their personal safety.
