Campus Alert Archive
Notre Dame

Notre Dame's First Crime Alert Since 2023 Reports Rape in Jordan Hall of Science Restroom

INsexual assaulttimely warningmedium confidence
Under Investigation

On the early afternoon of October 28, 2025, a female student reported she had been raped by an unknown male perpetrator in a restroom inside Jordan Hall of Science on the University of Notre Dame campus. The Notre Dame Police Department issued a crime alert via email around 4 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, October 29 — the university's first formal Clery timely warning since 2023. The suspect was described only as male; no further description was available.

Alerts
1
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
University of Notre Dame
Private R1 · IN
~13,000 studentsNDAlert / NDPD Crime Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from The Observer's reporting on the October 29, 2025 NDPD crime alert email817 chars
The Notre Dame Police Department received a report of an incident of rape that reportedly occurred within the Jordan Hall of Science on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. The female victim reported that she was raped in a restroom of the academic building by an unknown male perpetrator. The safety and security of all students, staff, faculty, and visitors is the University of Notre Dame's utmost concern. We encourage members of the community to remain alert, travel in groups when possible, and report any suspicious activity to NDPD by dialing 911 from a campus phone or 574-631-5555 from a cell phone. The University's sex-based misconduct policy and additional resources from NDPD and the Office of Institutional Equity are available to students. The ND Safe App's 'Mobile Blue Light' safety feature is also available.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

First formal NDPD crime alert since 2023, when the community was made aware of drink spiking in a male residence hall
Sent approximately 24-27 hours after the early-afternoon October 28 incident — a delay consistent with reports passing through the Office of Institutional Equity before reaching NDPD
The suspect description ('an unknown male perpetrator') is unusually thin and limits the practical preventive value of the alert
Closing references to NDPD's standard resource menu (Sex-Based Misconduct Policy, OIE, ND Safe App Mobile Blue Light) follow a template Notre Dame uses across crime alerts
Context

Background

The Jordan Hall of Science is the central undergraduate teaching building for Notre Dame's College of Science, with hundreds of students and faculty cycling through its corridors and restrooms during weekday afternoons. The October 28, 2025 reported rape — and the October 29 crime alert issued the next afternoon — broke a roughly two-year silence in Notre Dame's Clery-Act timely-warning record. The institution's last comparable alert had been in 2023, when NDPD warned of drink spiking in a male residence hall following three reported incidents that summer and fall. Notre Dame's institutional posture on sexual-assault disclosures has long been more restrained than many peer R1s; a follow-up Observer investigation a month later found NDPD had released no additional information, leaving the community without a suspect description, a known motive, or any indication of investigative progress. The alert's structure — a single-message advisory with no follow-up — is consistent with how the Clery Act framework treats completed sex offenses by unknown perpetrators: a timely warning is required if there is an 'ongoing or continuing threat,' but the law does not mandate updates or resolution communications. Critics of this approach point out that survivors and would-be future victims gain little practical safety information from a description as bare as 'an unknown male perpetrator' in an academic building open to thousands.
Analysis

Key Findings

First formal NDPD crime alert since 2023, breaking an approximately two-year silence in Notre Dame's timely-warning record
Suspect description ('an unknown male perpetrator') was so minimal that the alert's preventive utility was limited
A month-later Observer follow-up confirmed no investigative update had been released — illustrating the Clery Act's lack of mandatory follow-up communications
The alert's pathway through the Office of Institutional Equity before reaching NDPD likely contributed to the roughly 24-hour delay from incident to community notification
Outcome
Investigation initiated by the Notre Dame Police Department. No suspect identified as of the alert. Incident referred to the Office of Institutional Equity. No update was provided to the community in the weeks following the alert, prompting follow-up reporting by The Observer.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Female victim reports rape by unknown perpetrator in Jordan Hall of Science bathroom (The Observer)
    ndsmcobserver.com
  2. News
    Notre Dame investigating reported rape on campus (WNDU)
    wndu.com
  3. News
    Notre Dame Police investigate reported rape on campus (WSBT)
    wsbt.com
  4. Student Paper
    No update available following crime alert of reported rape in Jordan Hall (The Observer)
    ndsmcobserver.com
  5. Official
    Crime Alerts — Notre Dame Police Department
    police.nd.edu
Tags
sexual-assaultrapeclery-timely-warningfirst-since-2023private-r1catholicreligious-affiliatedUnder Investigation
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion