Students began the fall term at the University of Oregon in Eugene on Monday. But by midday on Wednesday, university officials sent out a community safety warning about five reported sexual assault attacks on or near campus in the past week.

According to the safety alert, officials said four of the incidents involved university students, and the fifth occurred near the Alton Baker Dog Park, adjacent to campus. They said police arrested someone in the fifth case and that all students affected have been offered university support resources.

“These assaults are not believed to be related, but several alleged perpetrators may have taken advantage of the fact that the victims were intoxicated at social events,” officials wrote.

UO enrolls roughly 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The university reported a total of seven on-campus rapes and 20 incidents of fondling in 2024, according to the latest data shared by the U.S. Department of Education.

Officials said they’re not sharing details of the recent assaults because the University of Oregon Police and Eugene Police departments are actively investigating.

The sexual assault allegations in Oregon were reported amid growing national outrage over Cornell University’s handling of an alleged rape by seven men of a female student in 2024.

According to RAINN, which describes itself as the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization and operator of the National Sexual Assault Hotline, sexual violence is not a rare or isolated problem on college campuses.

Across colleges in the U.S., RAINN’s statistics show roughly one in every four female undergraduate students and roughly one in every 16 male students is raped or sexually assaulted over their college careers.

Angela Seydel, director of issues management for UO’s communications team, told OPB there are several steps the university takes after a sexual violence incident.

Some of the key takeaways:

• Survivors decide how to proceed.
• University investigations and criminal investigations are separate.
• What the university can do depends partly on the information it receives.
• All incoming students and employees are expected to complete sexual violence prevention training.
• Help is available 24 hours a day.

Seydel said the university has invested in recent years in prevention and response programs for drugging and sexual assault and has worked on being transparent with its community about reported incidents.

“Ducks care for one another,” Angela Lauer Chong, vice president for student life, wrote in an additional message to the UO community. “We each have a role in creating a university community where everyone is treated with dignity, respect, and care, and where violence and harassment are not tolerated.”

Students who have experienced sexual or domestic violence can find immediate support and resource options at safe.uoregon.edu or call the 24-hour SAFE hotline at 541-346-SAFE (7233).

If you have any information that may be helpful in these recent investigations, please contact UOPD at 541-346-2919. Your information can be kept confidential.

Additional resources and university policies can be found here. Updates for this case are posted at alerts.uoregon.edu.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/01/university-oregon-uo-sexual-assault-crime-college-eugene/