Amid a nationwide debate on campus sexual assault, the University of Virginia’s data and policies don’t always clarify whether its efforts to prevent and punish such incidents are working effectively. University statistics and surveys suggest that most assaults may go unreported, with few reported incidents ending in disciplinary action.
A former Cornell University student, identified as Jane Doe, sued that school in late September, arguing it failed to protect her after she was allegedly drugged and raped by seven campus fraternity members in October 2024.
When UVA students report sexual misconduct, the university doesn’t usually start an investigation automatically, says spokesperson Bethanie Glover. Instead, it lets the person making the allegation decide how to proceed—a “trauma-informed approach [that] has been widely recognized as best practice,” she says. This approach “[preserves] the individual’s autonomy and control over the process.”
University employees must report suspected misconduct by law, but students aren’t bound by such requirements. UVA students found responsible for sexual misconduct can face penalties ranging from written warnings to expulsion.
For 2025-2026 academic year, Glover says the university received 93 reports of rape or sexual assault, down from 102 in the 2024-2025 academic year.
During the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic years, the university processed a total of 30 formal complaints, with 11 receiving an “alternative resolution” agreed upon by the complainant and the accused. Only five investigations ultimately found their subjects responsible for the offense.
UVA police crime logs from September 2025 through May 2026 list six reports of rape and one report of an unspecified sexual assault, all at non-Greek student housing or other areas on Grounds. UVA enrolled 17,848 undergraduate students and 8,837 graduate students for the 2025-2026 year.
In its 2026 report on campus safety, UVA lists 29 incidents of on-Grounds rape in 2025, 24 of which occurred in campus housing, with an additional three attacks occurring off Grounds. That’s up from 19 reports on Grounds in 2024, 17 in student housing, with no off-campus incidents listed.
Those numbers vary because “they serve different purposes and have different reporting requirements under federal law,” says Jared Lathrop of UVA’s Department of Safety and Security. “The daily crime log reflects incidents reported to UVA Police within its limited patrol jurisdiction, while the ASR includes qualifying crimes reported to a much broader network of individuals known as Campus Security Authorities and covering a much larger geographic area.”
The student-run University Judiciary Committee handles sexual misconduct investigations. UJC reports categorize offenses as violations of UVA’s 12 standards of conduct, with Standard 1 forbidding “physical assault,” including sexual assault. Across fall 2025 and spring 2026, the UJC investigated five Standard 1 violations, finding three people guilty. UJC data doesn’t specify remedies for each incident; it issued two suspensions and no expulsions during the 2025-2026 school year.
In a 2024 survey of 1,836 UVA students, including 1,183 undergrads, 19.7 percent of undergraduate women and 6.5 percent of undergraduate men reported experiencing “nonconsensual sexual contact involving physical force or inability to consent” during their time at the university. Forcible or nonconsensual penetration was reported by 9.6 percent of undergraduate women and 1.8 percent of undergraduate men; 27 percent of those women and none of the men said they subsequently reported their assault.
UVA requires training on recognizing and preventing sexual assault for incoming and returning students. Glover says that training “provides foundational information about the University’s Sexual Misconduct Policy, explains all forms of prohibited conduct and consent, and explores ways that students can be active bystanders.”
In publicizing its efforts to prevent assaults, UVA appears to emphasize reactive measures aimed at possible victims. These include Safe Sips—coasters that students can use to test the content of their drinks for GHB or ketamine contamination—and the university’s recent Swipe Smart event, designed to help students “recognize warning signs, navigate digital relationships, and make informed decisions.”
But Glover says the University’s efforts also attempt to address potential perpetrators. “Primary prevention includes ensuring our community is aware and knowledgeable about our policies and prohibited conduct, as well as other components including how to be an active bystander, understanding consent, and healthy relationships,” she says.
“We take sexual misconduct prevention, awareness, training and reporting seriously at UVA, as well as the general health, safety and well-being of our students,” Glover says. “We evaluate, assess and update our prevention and response efforts on an ongoing basis.”
Greek chapters must also provide additional training, facilitated by their national organizations or the university, that educates members “about what sexual assault and consent look like, what warning signs to notice, and how to report it,” says Cailee Halligan, president of UVA’s Inter-Sorority Council. Among the measures aimed at preventing assaults at fraternities and sororities, Halligan cites sorority houses’ policy of not allowing men inside, and the Door List app used at all fraternity parties, which creates a record of everyone in attendance. (Representatives from the Inter-Fraternity Council and various fraternities on Grounds did not respond to requests for comment.)
Per university policies, fraternities and sororities must get 70 percent of active members to participate in one annual sexual assault education class lasting at least an hour. Greek organizations can request an exemption from the university’s Student Affairs department to instead “view a film or an online program on a specific topic,” among other alternatives.
Doe’s suit has renewed debate over whether universities should abolish Greek organizations entirely. “I think that students would lose a lot if the Panhellenic community were to disappear tomorrow,” Halligan says. “More than anything, I think we provide a landing place for girls. … [W]hen you’re in college it can sometimes be easy to feel alone. We do everything in our power to prevent that feeling.”
