By Mike Carroll
Staff Writer
and
Vanessa Langdon
News Editor
The Albany Police Department is investigating an alleged sexual assault at Centennial Hall, a dormitory on Madison Avenue on the Saint Rose campus, Wednesday morning at 3:40 a.m. The victim’s roommate reported the incident to the Albany Police Department, according to Dennis McDonald, vice president of student affairs. Saint Rose Security was notified at 4:10 a.m., and the Albany Police were also notified.
The victim was taken to Albany Medical Center, but the college did not release her status. McDonald said that the victim may have known one of the suspects, according to information he received from the Albany Police Department.
In a series on sexual assault in the student newspaper, The Chronicle, a 2013 article “seventy percent of sexual assault victims are assaulted by somebody they know,” according to Joe Farrell, who at the time was director of training at the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
McDonald has been to Albany Medical Center and spoken to the victim’s parents expressing concern on behalf of the College. He has talked with the victim’s roommates to offer them assistance.
According to a Saint Rose security release, “video footage shows the two suspects leaving Centennial Hall following the incident, one on foot and one in a vehicle. They are still at large.
The same video footage shows that the suspects are African-American, of medium-build, wearing dark clothing and baseball caps.” The suspects are male, according to McDonald.
Footage from the dormitory cameras has been supplied to the Albany Police Department but has not been released publicly. There were no signs of forcible entry into the building or the apartment. Centennial Hall is only accessible by a magnetic ID card to students who live in the building.
McDonald said that the College would make housing, and academic accommodations for the alleged victim if she wished. Saint Rose security has an escort service that is open to all students, McDonald said these services would be available to the alleged victim to ensure she feels safe on campus.
The Saint Rose community, students and employees, was notified of the alleged assault at 9:43 a.m. Wednesday morning by Frederick Whitney, assistant director of security at the college. The email was formatted differently than typical security alerts sent by Steve Stella, director of Saint Rose security. Many students and faculty thought the email was suspect and did not initially take it seriously.
The email included a list of on-campus resources available to the campus community including the counseling center, health services, and security. McDonald’s contact information and off-campus resources for sexual assault victims were also included.
“We’re taking it very seriously,” McDonald said. “My day today has been working on this.”
