Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault.
The Iowa State 2025 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report showed that 11 Clery reportable rapes occurred in 2023. In 2024, that number dropped to ten, rising back to 11 in 2025.
“We want you to come forward,” Iowa State Police Chief Michael Newton said. “We’re going to believe you, and we’re going to investigate, and we’re going to help you…People will praise us on our low numbers, and I’ll be like, it’s not something to be praised about. It means people aren’t comfortable coming forward and actually telling us what’s happening.”
Iowa State students have multiple pathways to report sexual assault. Including to the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) or the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) which encompasses medical, law enforcement, advocacy and the Story County Attorney’s Office.
Reporting to the Office of Equal Opportunity
Individuals can report sexual assault to the OEO either in person at Beardshear Hall or through the incident report form on the OEO webpage.
If a student reports online, the OEO will reach out to impacted parties, introducing the office and resources or referrals available and inviting the individual to meet.
“That way, the individual student gets to decide whether or not they want to engage with us, but they at least have the resources there in the email,” Equal Opportunity Director and Title IX Coordinator Mary Howell Sirna said.
If after the initial email the OEO doesn’t hear back, they send a follow-up. Once several weeks have gone by with no response, the OEO will inform impacted parties that the matter will close but can be reopened at any point.
“They can come back in and engage with us at any time,” Sirna said. “They’ve had control taken away from them. We want to give them that control back and decide how they want to engage with our office.”
The OEO can assist impacted parties with referrals to Thielen, ISUPD or counseling services. The office can also contact professors on the student’s behalf to vaguely explain that the student is working with the OEO.
If the office can identify the alleged other party, then a mutual restrictive contact notice may be issued. That means that both the impacted party and the alleged other party can not have direct or indirect communication.
The OEO has no law enforcement capabilities; however, if needed, reports can be made to ISUPD to serve a harassment notice.
The office will investigate all formal complaints that violate the university’s sexual misconduct policies regardless of whether an impacted party involves law enforcement. The OEO is a non-punitive, non-confidential office that provides resources, support and due process to both parties.
“For our investigation, we obviously are going to interview the complainant, and we’re going to get all potential witnesses,” Sirna said. “Then we’re going to interview the respondent, get all potential witnesses.”
Then, the OEO documents a preliminary and final report. If the incident occurred between two students, the OEO will hand the case off to the Office of Student Conduct, which will hold a hearing.
Students should still report to the OEO if the alleged other party has no relation to the Iowa State community because the office can provide resources and support.
“I do think it’s important that even if the person’s not related to the institution that people report and feel comfortable reporting,” Newton said. “That person may decide to try to become a part of the community in the future.”
Reporting to Iowa State University Police Department (ISUPD)
Students can report to ISUPD in multiple ways.
“We will have walk-ins to the lobby where dispatch is at in the Armory,” Newton said. ”They’ll call and just want to talk to an officer over the phone and find out their options. We get called by RAs, we get called to a dorm room, we get called to Thielen, we get called to EO.”
Conversations with students reporting sexual assault focus on what that individual wants to take as a next step.
“Sometimes people want to do an initial report, but might wait months before they come back to law enforcement, or the EO or anyone, and we respect that,” Newton said. “We’ve had them come back months later, and we’ve had successful prosecutions.”
In the initial conversation, officers especially highlight that survivors can take the best path for them.
“Our philosophy with our department is that we always start with believing every person that comes forward,” Newton said.
ISUPD also provides a packet to survivors reporting that details Iowa State resources, sexual assault exam services, reporting options, how to contact the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter & Support (ACCESS) and the services offered by ACCESS.
Individuals can choose to make no report; speak anonymously with law enforcement; file a written report with no investigation; file a written report and gather immediate evidence with no further investigation; or file a written report, gather evidence and conduct a full investigation.
ISUPD can not investigate a case unless the survivor goes through with the process.
“If I think something is severe enough that it happened in a location where I think the Dean of Students should take a look at it or EO should take a look at it,” Newton said. “I do have the mechanism to reach out to them and say, based on what I’m hearing from this, I think you need to look into this a little bit more.”
If an incident occurred off campus, Ames Police handles the case.
When a report is made within ten days of an incident to ISUPD, the Iowa State Department of Public Safety releases a timely warning across campus, in accordance with the Clery Act. If reports lack sufficient detail or are made anonymously, ISUPD may not have enough information to issue a warning.
Reporting to Thielen Student Health Center and Student Counseling Services
Thielen will work with students in the way that makes them the most comfortable.
“We’ve had people walk in and say, ‘I was assaulted,’” Associate Vice President for Student Health and Wellness and Director of Thielen Student Health Center Erin Baldwin said. “We have people call and ask questions. They may just schedule an appointment for something else and not share until they get into the appointment because that’s when they feel like they’re comfortable.”
The health center has trained sexual assault nurse examiners. Thielen can provide medical services ranging from forensic exams to STD, STI or pregnancy testing.
“If they say ‘I want to pursue this from a criminal standpoint’, we would contact police, and they could come in,” Baldwin said. “We really try to make it easy, one stop for the student.”
Individuals can have forensic exams done at Thielen, and then ISUPD can pick up the SART kit as preserved evidence in the event the victim decides to take further action in the future. ISUPD can pick up the kits anonymously.
SART nurses have five days or 120 hours after an assault to conduct a medical forensic exam to collect physical evidence.
Confidentiality
Thielen Student Health Center and Student Counseling Services are entirely confidential. ISUPD and the OEO aren’t confidential resources.
“I have reporting requirements and obligations to the institution when the crime is reported to us,” Newton said. “We really try to preface that up front with people, so that they know everything they tell us, I might have to share certain aspects of that.”
Oftentimes, law enforcement will leave the room, and individuals can have confidential conversations with nurses or ACCESS. Then, when law enforcement returns to the room, survivors can have more confidence in what they do or don’t share with officers.
The OEO operates on a need-to-know basis.
“As the Title IX coordinator for the university, I get all the information, and we have to have a university response to that,” Sirna said. ”If we need to share that information to our other partners, we will be doing that.”
Campus Security Authorities also have an obligation to report sexual assault. For instance, if a student discloses sexual assault to their RA, the RA must contact ISUPD and fill out a Maxient report.
Sirna explained that responsible employees have a requirement to report sexual assault and aren’t violating confidence by reporting.
“They’re coming to you because they trust you,” Sirna said. “They’ve identified that you are someone that can help them.”
ACCESS can provide confidential support and information about the legal processes or medical exams.
“ACCESS has the ability to do the criminal process as well as the university process,” Sirna said. “They’re 100% confidential. That confidentiality is protected under the code of Iowa.”
ACCESS can also assist individuals in getting civil restraining orders through the court.
“They’re known as 236 orders that are civil,” Sirna said. “So a criminal charge doesn’t have to be charged, and you can still apply for a civil restraining order. That would be something through the court system.”
Those in need of support can contact ACCESS 24 hours a day at 1-800-203-3488 or visit their webpage.