The
University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday responded to recent stories regarding
Xuesong “Gary” Yang, a former UIS employee who has been charged with raping a
student (“Springfield businessman charged with raping UIS student,” Jan. 20,
2017; “Accused UIS rapist had power,” Jan. 27, 2017).
In
an email to Illinois Times, UIS
spokesman Derek Schnapp wrote that the newspaper’s stories on Yang’s alleged
rape of a 17-year-old student inaccurately portrayed the university’s response
to alleged sexual assaults. Following is Schnapp’s message in its entirety:
The University
is committed to the prompt and equitable resolution of reports of sexual
misconduct. Your recent articles inaccurately portray how the University
responded to an allegation of sexual misconduct impacting our community. While
the University will not discuss the details of specific situations, when the
University becomes aware of such allegations, it takes immediate action to
investigate or otherwise determine what occurred.
When incidents
occur off campus, the University has an obligation to notify the law
enforcement agency with jurisdiction of the location and cooperate with that
investigation. However, the University does not rely solely on external law
enforcement agencies to respond and always prioritizes campus safety.
The University
employs interim measures to ensure campus safety even when internal and
external investigations are underway. Those measures include but are not
limited to providing personal support services to alleged victims, imposing
appropriate no trespass and no contact orders, and reaching out to other
individuals on campus who may have been impacted by alleged misconduct.
Targeted police patrols and escort services, alternative housing arrangements,
and other measures are taken as appropriate. (A more thorough list of possible
interim measures can be found in Appendix F of the Title IX and Sexual
Misconduct Policy.
The safety and
well-being of our community is at the heart of the University’s mission.
Confidentiality of alleged victims is critical to encourage reporting by other
potential victims. The University will take no action that could jeopardize
campus safety, individual privacy, or the institution’s ability to carry out
its vital mission.
After
receiving Schnapp’s message, Illinois
Times on Thursday asked Schnapp to specify any inaccuracies in the newspaper’s
coverage. The newspaper has not received any response.
Contact
Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2017.
