In the wake of the current situation with Cornell, the WCSU Annual Police Report reveals instances of sexual assault occurring in 2025.
NOTE: This article contains references to sexual assault and rape.
The Cornell Seven, as they are colloquially called, refers to the group of seven male Cornell students accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2024. The other members of the Cornell Seven are Matthew Ingalls, Scott Kretzschmar, Winston Lee, Gillio Lopes, Jonathan Newell, and Scott Norris, as reported by the Cornell Daily Sun.
One member of the Cornell Seven, Diego Sarabia, was served with a lawsuit by mail at a verified address in Bethel, Connecticut, as reported by WFSB. Sarabia is not present on Connecticut’s sex offenders registry. Bethel is approximately 10-15 minutes away from Danbury by car.
In the midst of the developing lawsuit, the WCSU Annual Security Report revealed that rape and fondling occurred multiple times in university residence halls during 2025.
On-Campus Data
According to the 2025 university report, there were two incidents of rape, one that took place on Midtown and one that took place on Westside. Four out of the five fondling instances occurred on Westside. The report also revealed that all instances of rape and fondling from 2023-2025 occurred within residential areas.
Despite this data, only one instance of sexual assault was recorded in WCSU’s public police logs from 2025. Three instances of harassment were recorded in February, September, and December of that year. It is not publicly known what action was taken against perpetrators.
While the sexual assaults reported at WCSU are alarming, the school’s numbers are low compared to the University of Hartford, as reported by WFSB. This article claims that University of Hartford had 37 cases of rape last year.
The number of sexual assault cases at different universities in CT, however, could be higher than recorded. Reported instances of sexual assault dropped from 46% in 2023 to slightly less than 24% in 2024 as noted in the recently published Bureau of Justice Statistics Report.
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) reports that students in their first few months of college are especially vulnerable to sexual assault. The webpage notes specifically that 1 in 6 female freshmen experience sexual assault in their first year of college.
Fear and Mistrust
A WCSU junior shared their feelings about the situation as a survivor of sexual assault, expressing their terror with not knowing who to trust:
“I’m terrified […] especially because people accused of sexual assault are just walking around constantly in places that I need to be. It’s an unreal feeling, sitting in the dining hall on Westside—or even in Berkshire—and covering my drink and carrying it around with me when I’m getting food at 2 PM. […] When you’re in a school that claims to have safety at the forefront when there are known predators walking around, it makes me scared to do much of anything or trust much of anyone.”
As a survivor, the student encouraged others to stop speaking to people who have been accused of sexual assault.
“I just wanted someone to say that they believed me, and that they were sorry, and stop hanging around them,” said the student, comparing the response they wanted from their community to the response they got.
They found that, while some peers acknowledged that the assault happened, most continued on like nothing changed:
“I think a lot of people are under the impression that, when someone asks them to stop being friends with someone who’s committed any sexual assault, that it is fully to protect the friend,” said the student.
“While that is certainly part of it, there is also a precedent that needs to be set… that this type of behavior is not OK, and that your peers will protect you.”
They continued, saying that associating with someone accused of assault increases a person’s risk of being assaulted themselves; people are more at risk of being assaulted by someone they know rather than a stranger:
“Even if the accusations end up being proven false at a later date—and most of the time, they aren’t, because it happened—at least you wouldn’t have supported a rapist accidentally; you just supported a liar.
“If the opposite is true, then you’re allowing a rapist to get away with one of the worst crimes imaginable.”
Failure of Authority
The same student noted that they felt failed by the authority figures at their school in how they responded to the sexual assault. In high school, the student said that the person who assaulted them was allowed to continue in the extracurriculars they shared:
“I went to my school and I asked for something to be done about it […] and they said, ‘we can’t do that.’ All that happened is that they kept us apart from classes,” they said.
Worried about this inaction continuing through their college experience, they question what the university could do in order to help them feel safer on campus—expressing doubt that the students involved have been expelled:
“People need to be able to make educated decisions about who they associate with. I don’t think the university holds rapists accountable enough.”
The student went on to express little surprise in response to there being no arrest made with Diego Sarabia when asked about the situation at Cornell: “Connecticut Police do not do even a half-decent job of protecting the survivor and taking action against perpetrators.” They went on to note their distrust in campus police as well. “They don’t protect [students] against ICE, despite what we are told.”
In WCSU’s 2025 Security Report, it was stated that “the Chief [of WCSU Police] also works collaboratively with outside municipal, state and federal law enforcement.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is not mentioned in the report, but community members near campus have been taken by ICE since the school year began. The abductions left many community members questioning what the school and Connecticut communities are or could be doing to ensure the safety of students.
“Many assaults do not go reported. I know mine wasn’t reported to the police, and honestly, if I’d gotten a better response from my school I might’ve reported it to the police,” the student said. “It’s already so difficult to come forward with the worst days of people’s lives about this, and it’s certainly not made any easier by law enforcement.
“I would still encourage people to make reports as much as possible, but I don’t have trust, especially with the discrepancies that we are seeing in the university’s security reports versus police records. […] WestConn needs to do a better job at protecting its students from sexual assault and taking action when it does happen.”
Moving Forward
Despite the tense environment, opportunities are quickly arising on campus for students who are interested in speaking out against sexual violence.
On Thursday, October 8th from 6:00-8:00 PM, there will be an event hosted by B-Vocal on Westside to show support for the victim of the Cornell rape case and for survivors of sexual assault everywhere. B-Vocal is a singing resistance group from Southwestern Connecticut.
The event and vigil will be near WestConn’s Campus Center and VPAC. Student organizations are encouraged by B-Vocal representatives to attend.
“I had been trying to find the words to explain how I feel about what’s happening right now, and honestly, I couldn’t find them,” said B-Vocal member Aurora Daley. “I feel this so deeply in my being that words just don’t seem big enough, so I stopped asking what I could say and started asking what I could do—how I could get more involved and turn that feeling into action?”
Daley notes that she felt compelled to take action after seeing no events in CT for the “Stop Sexual Violence Day of Action,” a day called for by Women’s March.
“I asked the group, ‘Are you ready to take this on with me?’ And then we got to work. What you see happening now is what a group of determined women can accomplish in just 48 hours,” said Daley. “Never underestimate the power of women, especially women who are justifiably angry, deeply committed, and ready to turn that anger into action,” Daley concluded.
Student survivors, those who are interested in giving a speech, or organizations who would like to table can reach out to auroraphotography@mac.com to coordinate.
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