In the early morning of Saturday, Sept. 29, two men abducted and sexually assaulted a Saint Louis University student as she was walking near campus.

According to a crime alert issued by the Department of Public Safety on Saturday, the victim had been making her way toward the Moolah Temple on Lindell Boulevard when, at about 2:30 a.m., she was “taken in” the perpetrators’ vehicle. They drove her to an off-campus location, where they sexually assaulted her. At around 3:45 a.m., the victim was released on Lindell Boulevard near the northwestern edge of campus.

The assault took place during Family Weekend, a few hours after the end of Friday’s Homecoming concert. Some students had a difficult time deciding whether to tell their parents about a student falling victim to a violent crime near campus.

Lizzie Layne, a freshman whose family was visiting from Texas on Saturday, said that she had opted not tell her father about the assault.

“My parents were skeptical about me coming to SLU because of the crime issue in the first place,” Layne said.

Layne said that the incident heightened her anxiety about crime around campus.

“I was shocked,” she said. “It makes me nervous to go out at night.”

Other students agreed that news of the assault was unnerving.

“I thought it was weird because it is a place we walk to almost everyday,” said Amanda Stubbe, a freshman who has friends that live in the Moolah Temple. “It could have been any of us.”

At the Student Government Association meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 3, Senator Lucie Swain said that she planned to take action with the Commuter Concerns Committee, which she chairs.

“We will try to work with the Department of Public Safety to increase security in the perimeter around campus,” Swain said afterward.

The University News‘ calls to DPS were unreturned at press time.