A student was sexually assaulted in Copley Hall early Friday evening, launching a Metropolitan Police Department investigation of the incident and a university review of on-campus safety procedures.

According to the MPD incident report, a Copley resident was walking downstairs toward the basement of Copley Hall at about 6 p.m. on Friday, April 9, when an unknown male began to follow her. He said “Hey, girl,” before taking hold of her and pushing her against a wall. Covering the victim’s mouth with one hand, the suspect then started to feel her breasts over her shirt and put his hand under her dress, the report states.

The victim pushed the suspect away and ran out Copley’s back door located in the basement, headed in the direction of Davis Performing Arts Center. The suspect did not follow her toward the Davis Center and fled from Copley, presumably out the rear door in an unknown direction, according to Department of Public Safety Investigative Sergeant David Ruiz.

The victim described the assailant as a white male of medium build, about 6-foot and in his early 20s. The victim did not recognize the suspect, but Ruiz said that it was possible that the assailant was a student. As the crime occurred in the early evening, any student with a valid GOCard would have had access to Copley Hall at the time.

This is the first sexual assault reported to have occurred in an on-campus residence since September, according to DPS crime logs and Public Safety Alerts. Though assaults have occurred both off campus and in on-campus apartments, they are rare in dorms, Ruiz said.

In response to Friday’s crime, representatives from the university said they are taking steps to increase student safety.

“We are very concerned about this assault, and we take security in our residence halls seriously,” Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson said. “We are reviewing the incident and our security procedures to assure that we are protecting our students as effectively as possible.”

Following multiple burglaries, robberies and assaults reported both on and off campus in the last month, DPS said it would increase patrols and encouraged students to report any suspicious individuals and behavior. Despite the new measures, students living in Copley said that they are concerned for their safety following the assault.

“This incident has definitely changed the way I feel in my residence hall. Though I have always learned to be cautious in areas surrounding campus, Copley has been a place I have always felt safe,” Kristen Kennedy (COL ’12), a current resident of Copley Hall, said. “I find it truly horrible that my roommate and I now feel we need to walk together downstairs in order to do something as simple as our laundry or checking our mailboxes. I have never before felt uncomfortable walking around Copley by myself, but now I am questioning my safety here.”

The most recent instance of assault to happen in on-campus housing occurred in a Village A apartment on March 29; a student was choked by a man who had entered her residence through an unlocked door. MPD is currently conducting an investigation of the crime.

In early September, a student was sexually assaulted in her Village A apartment, in what was the last reported on-campus sexual assault. The last sexual assault reported in an on-campus residence hall occurred in spring 2008, when a female student was sexually assaulted at gunpoint in LXR.

DPS has sought to improve safety measures in Copley Hall by revamping the swipe-in system as of Feb. 1. Under the test program, students entering the dorm must hand their GOCard to the guard, who then swipes it, instead of doing so themselves. When this measure was implemented, DPS said it was a pilot program to improve overall security on campus. About two months after the changes, some Copley residents said they were not satisfied with security in the building.

“Security just isn’t working well, people come in who don’t live here and security is simply lacking. DPS made a big fuss that they are improving security, but it doesn’t seem to be working. I have walked in frequently and there was no guard there. Other times, the guards simply do not care and let people walk by without showing or swiping their cards,” Copley resident Gianna Ward-Vetrano (COL ’11) said.

The Office of Student Guards was unavailable for comment.

Hoya Staff Writer Katrina Braun contributed to this report.