Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Student Allegedly Assaulted in Bias Incident Tuesday

*Updated at 7:42 a.m. on October 30*

A female student was assaulted on Tuesday night after being harassed on the basis of her perceived sexual orientation, according to a [Department of Public Safety Public Safety Alert](https://publicsafety.georgetown.edu/82321.html).

Two men reportedly made derogatory comments about her perceived orientation as the student was walking on Canal Road near the entrance to campus at 9:10 p.m. on Tuesday. The student said she was wearing a shirt indicating support for gay rights at the time. The suspects allegedly blocked the student’s path, took her book bag, taunted her, hit her on the upper torso, pushed her to the ground and struck her with the bag. The suspects then fled in the direction of Foxhall Road, according to the PSA.

The student sustained minor injuries but did not require treatment, the PSA said. The suspects were described as white males in their late 20s.

The reported assault elicited reactions from members of GU Pride, Georgetown’s primary LGBTQ student group. Members said at a meeting last night that they were pleased with the university’s reaction to the assault.

“The university did a really good job of getting the word out, and that’s different from the past,” GU Pride Co-Social Chair Ellen Greer (SFS ’11) said.

The student reported the incident to DPS at about 5:44 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the PSA. The PSA was sent to the campus community shortly before 11 p.m. on Wednesday.

GU Pride members expressed concerns at the meeting about the language of the PSA, which did not mention the alleged physical assault. Some said they or their friends were not immediately aware that the assault was physical as well as verbal.

The complete PSA, available on the DPS Web site, specified that the student was physically assaulted.

Officials at the LGBTQ Resource Center met with the complainant less than 24 hours after the incident to ensure that she was connected to the proper resources, according to a statement Shiva Subbaraman, the director of the center, read at the meeting.

“I encouraged the student to submit a formal [DPS] report, which [she] had not done when they came to see me, so that we could send out a formal PSA,” Subbaraman said.

DPS notified the Metropolitan Police Department of the incident and MPD is leading an investigation.

Josh Mogil (SFS ’11), a Georgetown University Student Association senator who recently introduced a bill allowing the senate to discussion the incorporation of a harsher penalty for hate crimes into the Student Code of Conduct, expressed his disappointment with Georgetown’s recent history of bias-related assaults.

“This act is just another in a long line of incidents based on evil intolerance,” he said.

embers of GU Pride also discussed future events designed to raise awareness of hate crimes.

embers and allies of GU Pride plan to wear shirts expressing support for LGBTQ rights today, as well as table in Red Square from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and gather between classes from 11:55 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

“We’re not going to let members of our community get assaulted. We’re just not,” Greer said.”

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