Sexual assault reported at University of Chicago off-campus party, officials say

Lila Hempel-Edgers, Chicago Tribune on Oct 12, 2026

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CHICAGO — A person was sexually assaulted early Sunday morning at an off-campus party near the University of Chicago, officials said.

The victim reported the assault at 2:10 a.m., roughly 30 minutes after it occurred, and did not know the suspect, according to a university incident report. The party was held at 5625 S. University Ave. in Hyde Park, an address listed on social media as the home of the Lambda chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, a Jewish fraternity with chapters on hundreds of college campuses around the world.

On Monday morning, the street outside the fraternity was quiet apart from the chatter of passersby and the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot. A red flag bearing the organization’s Greek letters fluttered in the wind outside the house, where curtains were drawn tightly across the windows.

The AEPi chapter at UChicago was told to halt all programming while university officials and local law enforcement investigate the reported assault, according to the fraternity’s national organization. Jonathan Pierce, a spokesperson for the organization, said it learned of the assault Sunday afternoon and has been working with the university’s chapter leadership since then.

Pierce told the Chicago Tribune that all AEPi members are required to undergo sexual assault and harassment prevention training and could face expulsion for violating the fraternity’s policies. Prohibited conduct includes repeated propositioning, coercive pressure, unwanted touching and physical violence, he said.

AEPi, like other Greek-letter organizations, is not officially recognized by the University of Chicago, though its students are still subject to the university’s code of conduct and disciplinary procedures. Pierce said the fraternity’s national headquarters provides the same oversight and support to all chapters, regardless of whether their universities officially recognize them.

“Most importantly, all of AEPi hurts for the person who was the victim in this incident,” Pierce said in a statement. “No one should attend an event on any campus — fraternity-based or otherwise — and have to fear for their safety and wellbeing.”

The university’s student handbook states that sexual misconduct violates campus community standards and is “unacceptable” even when it does not violate the law. It urges anyone who has experienced sexual misconduct to report the incident and seek medical care.

“Sexual misconduct can be devastating to the person who experiences it directly and can adversely impact family, friends, and the larger community,” the handbook states.

Last week, students at college and high school campuses across the state, including Chicago, protested after a two-year-old sexual violence case resurfaced last month at Cornell University.

A woman referred to as “Jane Doe” filed a civil suit after a prosecutor declined to pursue criminal charges against seven men she alleges raped her in 2024 while she was intoxicated at a fraternity party on the Ivy League school’s Ithaca, New York, campus.

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