As the University of Pennsylvania police moved closer to arresting suspects in the case of a Princeton debater who says he was assaulted while sleeping in a Penn lounge on Nov. 16, Princeton students said the perpetrators should face a serious penalty.
"They should be ejected out of the school. Being drunk doesn't excuse such a behavior," Denis Barkatz GS said.
Penn Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Bill Danks said the suspects may be arrested by Friday. By the weekend, however, no arrests had been made, said Ron Ozio, media relations manager at Penn's communications office. "We're not fooling around with this. We are now confident that we know who we're looking for," Danks said on Wednesday.
Ozio said he was unaware of any developments in the case over the weekend. Penn Police detectives were unavailable for comment.
John Brantl '05 said he was kicked, doused with motor oil and threatened by several individuals who forced him to apologize and never return to Penn. Brantl also said the door to the lounge did not have a lock to keep out intruders.
Princeton spokeswoman Lauren Robinson-Brown '85 said administrators have been in contact with Brantl, but that the formal investigation is being conducted by Penn, not Princeton. "We are in discussion with the student regarding the incident," said Robinson-Brown, adding that the University has not yet issued an official statement.
Princeton students differed over how much responsibility the Penn administration should take for the incident.
"[They should] apologize just because it happened at the school," said Elisa Cheung '05, though she added that Penn should not be held responsible for all its students.
Penn should offer "some type of apology, even though it was not their fault, just as a formality," Rick Raymond '06 said. "It is the university's responsibility to ensure safety."
But Barkatz said Penn bore no responsibility for the assault.
"The university shouldn't have to apologize," Barkatz said. "They aren't responsible for all students."
Yesim Keman '05, however, said the university was responsible for finding the debaters adequate accommodations.
"The University of Pennsylvania should apologize because they didn't find [the debaters] a place to stay," said Keman.
Raymond and Cheung both said if the situation were reversed and Princeton students were accused of the same assault, they would expect them to be treated with the same severity as they expect for the Penn students.
If a Princeton student were accused of similar behavior, there would be an investigation followed by disciplinary proceedings by the office of the dean of undergraduate students, Robinson-Brown said.
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