A lawsuit concerning an incident of video voyeurism is the latest in a long line of reports of sexual violence at the University of Rhode Island stretching back at least 30 years.
In February 1995, The Good 5 Cent Cigar reported on an incident involving a man breaking into female residence hall bathrooms. The Cigar continued to report on the situation, including a student senate meeting where students voiced concerns about a lack of transparency on the university’s behalf.
At the senate meeting, a student submitted a report from the Talent Development program alleging there had been “four alleged rapes on campus, one physical assault, peeping toms in dorm showers and racially charged statements.” Students complained that the school had kept the information from them and senate members agreed that they should be made aware of incidents as soon as they occur.
In 2011, URI basketball player was arrested after two students reported that he had filmed and then posted videos of their sexual encounters, according to Cigar reporting. The university issued a press release the same day of the mans arrest.
That same year, The Cigar reported that a URI student entered Gorham Hall and was able to access several women’s dorms. The student admitted to entering four women’s rooms on the night of Oct. 10. The individual was released on a bail and ordered to stay away from the women and banned from Gorham Hall. The Cigar reported that police were still working to find how the man was able to enter the rooms three days after the reports had been filed.
URI was sued this August over a report claiming the school failed to properly notify the student body after a Providence man was allegedly able to get inside Adams Hall and film a female student in the shower in April. The lawsuit is ongoing. Previous Cigar reporting found that 14 of 18 students interviewed were unaware of the incident.
The report states that in 2024, URI reported eight on-campus rapes and 13 cases of “fondling.” This is similar to the 2023 statistics, which reported ten on-campus rapes and two cases of fondling.
The Jeanne Clery Act, originally passed in 1990, requires URI and other college campuses to report crime data every year on Oct. 1. Crimes that must be reported include criminal homicide, sexual assault and hate crimes, according to the Clery Center’s website.
2024 saw a sharp increase in dating violence, jumping from zero reports to seven, according to the Clery Report.
Officials lay out the procedures for relaying information to the public in the university’s Clery Report. University police, along with the Dean of Students Office and External Relations and Communications, will issue a “timely warning.”
For a timely warning to be issued, the incident must meet three criteria (exceptions can be made at officials’ discretion). First, it must be one of the following Clery Act crimes: arson, aggravated assault, criminal homicide, domestic violence, dating violence, robbery, burglary, motor vehicle theft, sexual assault, hate crimes or stalking. Second, the perpetrator must still be at large. Third, there must be a substantial risk to the safety of other community members.
Officials did not issue a timely warning after the video voyeurism incident in Adams Hall in April because voyeurism is not one of the specific crimes listed and the perpetrator had been apprehended, according to URI Deputy Chief of University Police Paul Ricci. Rhode Island does not consider video voyeurism as sexual assault, according to section 11-37-1 of Rhode Island law. Perpetrators only have to register with the sex offender registry if the victim is under 18.
URI’s open campus policy also complicates security measures, according to Ricci. Students and non-students are able to access facilities on the Kingston Campus, like the library or the gym. Students are able to access resident halls by using their student ID cards.
Officials state that residents are not permitted to share their dorm codes and may face disciplinary action if they do, according to the Clery Report.
Such actions are incredibly difficult to enforce, especially as students often prop open doors to avoid having to reswipe to enter, according to Ricci.
Students are also responsible for their own safety, according to Ricci. Holding the door open for someone behind you may lead to someone without a student ID accessing a residential hall.
Some residential halls have front desks that are staffed, according to Director of Emergency Management Samuel Adams. In Adams Hall where the voyeurism incident occurred, the windows for the front desk are covered in papers, preventing anyone inside from seeing out into the entrance.
Officials also describe how the university works to “end sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and stalking” in the Clery Report. First-year students must complete an online training course. e-Campus accounts are placed on hold if students fail to do so. The report also lists 26 programs dedicated to educating the student body about sexual assault, including department specific programs. Groups must request the program, they are not required.
Students seeking support for on-campus sexual assault or harassment can find information on the university’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response website. Off-campus resources can be found through the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
