Between October 2016 and April 2017, 15 Whitman students reported unknowingly ingesting dissociative “date rape” drugs at various parties. These assaults, according to an email at the time from Juli Dunn to an alleged victim, occurred at Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Chi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Fiji, an off campus residence and a Motel 7 off campus.

On Oct. 30, 2016, an anonymous report of a perpetrator drugging a student was submitted to Juli Dunn’s office. By Nov. 7, 2016, Dunn’s office had received reports of perpetrators drugging 10 students over the course of two weekends. While victims’ symptoms varied, reports were consistent with symptoms of students ingesting dissociative drugs such as ketamine, Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and Rohypnol. At this point, the Whitman administration identified a total of 10 reported drugging victims. 

On Nov. 7, 2016, former Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Chuck Cleveland sent a “timely warning” email notifying students of the reported druggings. In his email, Cleveland notified students that the Walla Walla Police Department (WWPD) was opening an investigation into the incidents and would be interviewing individuals with connections to the reported druggings. Under Washington state law, an individual is guilty of assault in the second degree if they, “With intent to inflict bodily harm, administers to or causes to be taken by another, poison or any other destructive or noxious substance.”

Cleveland did not send out a “timely warning” email following the Oct. 30 drugging report, stating at the time that the report was vague and did not contain verifiable evidence of an assault. The anonymous reporter disagreed, stating that their Oct. 30 report included details of the night, the location of the alleged assault, the reported victims’ Greek affiliation and the victims’ contact information. 

Former Director of Whitman Security Matt Stroe, who was Director at the time of the reported druggings, says that these “timely warning” emails from Administration to the student body are not only necessary, but required according to the Clery Act.

Stroe left his position at the college due to the violations he witnessed, stating that it was no longer possible to do his job. 

Another former security employee, who was so alarmed by the violations he witnessed that he filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, says he is concerned that the Whitman Administration often feels above policy. 

“I have also talked with victims who divulged their stories to me and they felt like they were revictimized, that somehow it was their fault. And I’ve heard that story continually since I’ve been there for 41 years… I don’t think [members of Administration are] doing enough to support victims,” the employee, who requested to remain anonymous due to fear of professional, personal and legal repercussions, said. 

According to confirmation from Sergeant Nick Loudermilk, on Nov. 14, 2016, the WWPD obtained a warrant to search Tau Kappa Epsilon. Witnesses say the WWPD had gathered evidence that pointed to a member of TKE possessing, and potentially manufacturing, the dissociative drugs used in the assaults.

Stroe says that in the process of interviewing drugging suspects, members of the Dean of Students Office leaked information that the WWPD had obtained a search warrant for the TKE house.

Sam*, a Whitman alum who was on campus when the druggings occurred, alleges that he saw the person of interest passing a backpack off to her in the days before the police search. 

Stroe and other sources familiar with the incident say the WWPD did not find any drugs upon conducting their search. 

“It was disheartening that law enforcement put in this work and were trying to help us out, and we ended up botching it,” Stroe said.

According to Stroe, the administrator who took the lead on conducting interviews was Assistant Vice President Juli Dunn. Juli Dunn declined The Wire’s multiple requests for comment. The Wire is unable to verify how many administrators conducted interviews. 

In response to The Wire’s requests, Dunn stated via email “Maybe tell me why you are so interested in a series of incidents that occurred eight years ago and about which The Wire wrote extensively as they were occurring?” 

When notified about the allegations by the former Director of Security that Dunn had been involved in revealing private investigative information to suspects, resulting in a “botched” case, Dunn did not respond. 

“Part of me feels like [the investigation] should have been in security’s realm and the Dean of Students should not have been involved. Not to the extent in which they were, interviewing those that were… suspects,” Stroe said. 

On Nov. 29, 2016, Chuck Cleveland notified students via email that a person of interest was identified as a possible source of the dissociative drugs administered in the druggings. In the email, Cleveland said that he could not reveal the name of the student due to privacy laws, but that upon being notified of impending conduct proceedings, this student withdrew from the College. 

On April 8, 2017, two students reported being drugged at a Sigma Chi party the night before. The victims reported their assaults to Dunn. On April 29, two more students reported being drugged at another Sigma Chi party. The victims reported their assaults to Dunn the same night. According to an email from Juli Dunn to The Wire, in November of 2017, a student reported that in May 2017, she was drugged at an off-campus party in which Whitman students and Walla Walla locals were present. 

Victims who came forward at the time described being retraumatized by reception to their reports of assault. Elizabeth*, who says she was drugged at a Fiji party, says she was not taken seriously by the employee working at the Welty Student Health Center when she came to the Center on the night of her alleged assault. The employee, Elizabeth says, believed she had merely drank too much alcohol and did not provide Elizabeth with help. When friends brought Elizabeth to a local emergency room, she says hospital staff only handed her a pamphlet on the dangers of binge drinking. 

Grace*, who says she woke up in the emergency room after a perpetrator allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted her at a Greek life event, says she was handed a similar pamphlet in the hospital. 

Both Grace and Elizabeth claim that when they reported their assaults to Dunn, her response did not include suggesting they file a Title IX report or take further action. 

“I think [members of Administration] were really taking advantage of how traumatized we all were… That we didn’t have the wherewithal to even know to ask about what’s a formal process for rectifying this,” Elizabeth said. 

Elizabeth reported feeling triggered when Juli Dunn sent her an email about the drug test she received as part of the investigation. The email’s subject line read “Blood and Urine.”

“This is a PR issue for [Administration], not a campus safety issue… It was very clear from the jump that [Administration was] trying to sweep this under the rug as quickly as possible,” said Elizabeth. 

Chuck Cleveland declined The Wire’s requests for comment, stating via an email to The Wire “I just can’t see what value there is in dredging up long ago issues.”

Cleveland’s comments were upsetting to alleged drugging survivors who spoke with The Wire, who say that these issues follow them to this day. 

“I can see how Chuck [Cleveland] doesn’t find any value in ‘dredging up long ago issues,’ however, I do not have that luxury. As a survivor of assault, a victim of the Administration’s callousness and inaction and a person living with PTSD, I have to relive this stuff all the time,” Elizabeth wrote in an email to The Wire.

Elizabeth says that in their email communication with the student body, the Administration engaged in rhetoric which shifted blame from their wrongdoing, congratulated their own efforts and left the onus on students to “stay safe” while engaging in behaviors such as drinking alcohol at parties. Elizabeth says this rhetoric implicated alleged drugging victims as the agents of their assaults. These alleged assaults, Elizabeth says, are ultimately instances of sexual and gendered violence that cannot be prevented without building a campus culture of consent. 

With no perpetrator held responsible, no victims who spoke with the Wire receiving an apology and no formal change from administration, the reported 2016-2017 drugging incidents remain unresolved.

* Sam, Elizabeth, and Grace are pseudonyms used to protect the sources anonymity for fear of personal, professional, and legal repercussions.

CORRECTION 12/13: Further modifications were made to specify that all experiences reported in the story are alleged. 

CORRECTION 12/12: This article was modified to specify that both Grace and Elizabeth allege that they were drugging victims.  Additionally, this article was modified to specify that Sam’s experience was an alleged claim on the response to potential police presence.