Assault Reported at Java Barn
This article contains content related to sexual assault and other topics that may be triggering.
A non-SLU student allegedly sexually assaulted a patron at the Java Barn last week according to an email from Safety and Security Director Patrick Gagnon. As a result, the venue is updating its safety procedures.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning at the Java Barn, an on-campus concert venue. The suspect is reportedly male and is not a registered SLU student, however, the report is unclear if they are a student at a nearby institution or a North Country local.
Late Monday evening, Java Barn staff made a post on Instagram addressing the incident. “We acknowledge the events that have happened in our space, and we apologize to anyone who this has affected,” they wrote. “In no way is this behavior acceptable.”
The post included actions that the Java Barn staff will take at future shows to promote a safer experience. They announced that they will be checking student and government issued identification cards at the door in order for admittance. “This measure will increase accountability of individuals attending our shows,” they wrote.
Additionally, they are banning masks that fully cover faces, providing anti-drink spiking “cup covers,” increasing the size of their staff, and better advertising resources available to students before concerts and during set breaks. “We will do everything possible to make sure these experiences continue in a safe and enjoyable way,” Jave Barn staff concluded.
The email was sent because of a federal provision called “timely warning,” part of the Clery Act that mandates that universities alert their students of threats to campus safety, even if the institution does not yet have all the facts. Gagnon’s email defined sexual assault as any offense fitting the description of “rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape.”
This was the first timely warning sent by Safety and Security since October 2021, when a “heavy-set” male assaulted a female in Jencks Hall. That occurrence led to a protest outside of the MacAllaster House, President Kathryn Morris’s university home.
A Spring 2023 legal filing in which a SLU professor alleged that a co-worker sexually assaulted her also led to student protests, which The Hill News reported on. It is yet to be seen how the student body will react to news of this assault, as well as what other student safety measures will be put in place.