Warning: Graphic content The woman thought she had told the two men, “Please stop.” She thought she had shaken her head. But she couldn’t be sure, she told a University of Arizona police officer hours later. When she woke up wearing only her shirt while two men took turns having sex with her in a fraternity house bedroom, she had felt like she was only capable of “just laying there.” It was during the first week of classes when the woman went with friends to hang out at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house down the street from her sorority, according to a search warrant filed by campus police. She told police she had kissed one of the men willingly earlier in the night, getting interrupted when someone opened the door trying to film them. But as the hours wore on, according to allegations outlined in the search warrant filed Sept. 9 in Pima County, she woke up at the edge of a bed. One man was having sex with her, while another was at her side, the warrant said. The student had been drinking tequila with her friends, and she couldn’t recall the order of what unfolded next, the officer wrote in the warrant. She said she remembered an unknown man’s breath on her face as he had sex with her; she also remembered trying to lift her head at various points during the encounter, only to fall back to the bed. But she could not recall, according to the warrant, “being asked or consenting to sexual activity.” CNN has not been able to reach out to the woman, whose identity was redacted from official documents. When the woman awoke again before 6 a.m., she said she felt something on her throat. She later noticed a bruise and had difficulty swallowing — possible signs, the officer wrote in the warrant, of strangulation. One of the men walked her back to her sorority house, where she made a phone call to her mom that she would not remember hours later, and then fell back asleep. The next time she woke up, she contacted the campus police department. Her account, one of at least 15 reported instances of rape or sexual assault documented since Aug. 26 in a University of Arizona crime log reviewed by CNN, is now being investigated by campus police and school administrators, according to a letter the university’s vice president of student affairs sent to the fraternity president. Three reports, one of which listed the location as an “unknown fraternity,” took place as recently as October 18 and 20, according to the log. Administrators placed Sigma Phi Epsilon on an activities suspension on Wednesday, stating “All members of Sigma Phi Epsilon are prohibited from having any contact with any alleged victims of these events and/or the victims’ families.” The letter sent to the fraternity president did not specify whether the woman’s account was a factor in the suspension, although it cited the date of the reported assault. The memberships of the men that the woman says were involved in her assault have been suspended, according to a statement to CNN from Brian Warren, CEO of the organization’s national organization. “Any member found responsible will be expelled, and we will cooperate fully with law enforcement as it seeks accountability under the law,” Warren said in the statement. “Coming forward took courage,” he added, referring to the alleged victim, “and she deserves a complete and unobstructed investigation.” CNN’s attempts to reach Sigma Phi Epsilon’s university recruitment chairs for comment were unsuccessful. The chapter president, meanwhile, declined to comment while the investigation is pending. There are no reported indications of any arrests being made. The allegations in the search warrant, which was obtained last week by CNN affiliate KOLD, come as universities across the nation are facing a renewed reckoning over the issue of rape on campus and in Greek life. There was widespread outcry starting in Sept., after a former Cornell University student and sorority member filed a lawsuit alleging she was sexually assaulted by multiple Chi Phi members at their chapter house in 2024. Since then, two women have come forward saying they were sexually assaulted at different fraternity houses near the University of Chicago. At the University of Arizona, several of the school’s 21 Interfraternity Council fraternity chapters started the academic year either sanctioned or suspended over reported code of conduct violations. Sigma Phi Epsilon was on probation through May 2027 due to allegations of hazing new members in the fall 2025 semester through the use of sleep deprivation, calisthenics, forced alcohol consumption and kidnapping, according to a letter associate dean and student accountability coordinator Whitney Mohr sent to its fraternity chapter president ahead of the new school year. Any further code of conduct violations would result in further disciplinary action, the letter said. In a move that drew national headlines, university administrators on October 5 placed all 21 fraternities on an activities suspension, with Dean of Students Chrissy Lieberman writing in a letter to the school’s Greek community that the measure would be lifted for chapters that were in good standing once fraternity representatives attended at least one meeting with her. Lieberman’s letter said nearly half of the school’s 21 fraternities were under investigation over misconduct allegations ranging from physical assault to hazing, calling the number of cases and the severity of the concerns “egregious.” CNN has not been able to confirm which fraternities were in good standing and which were under investigation. The step was being taken after problems persisted, despite University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella telling fraternity leaders Aug. 27 that no more violations “that put our students in harm’s way” would be tolerated, according to the letter. After a week of suspension, all but five chapters were allowed to resume activities. University spokesperson Nick Prevenas did not respond to CNN’s questions about why Sigma Phi Epsilon was among those cleared at the time, when the alleged sexual assault was reported to university police more than a month earlier. The interim suspension currently in place for Sigma Phi Epsilon was issued on October 21, after news outlets revealed the allegations made by the sorority member nearly two months earlier. It was unclear whether the reported assault was among the reasons for the suspension. A letter announcing the penalty cited reports that the fraternity allegedly provided alcohol to minors and created a dangerous environment on or about Aug. 26 and Sept. 29. In a statement Prevenas provided to CNN, vice-president for Student Affairs Amanda Kraus called reports of sexual assault “deeply concerning to our campus.” She said the university could not comment on individual student investigations but noted that the school provides sexual assault prevention education and supports survivors through counseling and academic assistance. “We recognize the impact these reports can have on our students, their families and our broader campus community,” said the statement from Kraus, who did not respond to an email seeking comment. “The safety and well-being of our students are our top priority, and every student deserves to feel safe and supported at the University of Arizona.” Man said his memory was ‘fuzzy’ during recorded call, warrant shows The status of the investigation into the Sigma Phi Epsilon allegations is not clear. The Pima County Attorney’s Office, which did not respond to CNN’s email seeking comment, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the case had not been referred to it for prosecution. The university police department refused to provide a copy of the incident report to CNN and said it could not answer questions about the incident, because the department “will not comment on active investigations.” According to the search warrant, the woman was taken to a university hospital for a sexual assault examination the day she made her report. An examination found bloody discharge; she also had spots inside her mouth from broken blood vessels, according to a nurse’s documentation described in the warrant. Two days later, police listened in as she called one of the men. With police recording, he said that he had been drunk and his memory was “fuzzy” on what happened, but he admitted they had had sex. He told her that they “killed a handle of tequila” and were video-recorded wrestling and kissing, according to the warrant. He added that only the two of them had sex and she had agreed to it. The fraternity “does not tolerate sexual assault or sexual misconduct,” Warren, the CEO of Sigma Phi Epsilon’s national organization, said in his statement. He said they have told the University of Arizona chapter members to give police any videos, messages or other information from that night. The president of the university’s student government organization did not respond to CNN’s request for comment, while the executive vice president declined an additional request. Students, faculty react to alleged assault Alyssa Norris, a senior at the university and co-director of the campus organization Feminists Organized to Resist, Create and Empower (FORCE), in an interview with CNN said she was hoping the university would send out communications directing students toward support resources in light of the situation on campus. The incident appeared in the university’s crime log with sparse details, but officials did not respond to CNN’s inquiry about whether students were broadly notified of the allegations. CNN could not confirm whether the incident listed in the crime log was the same incident as the one detailed in the search warrant, but the date and address matched, and no other assaults were listed in the crime log for the date in the search warrant. “There’s been no sort of mass email, no sort of communication, even acknowledging this, let alone directing resources towards it, making sure that students are aware that their administration cares about them,” Norris said. The allegations didn’t come as a surprise, she said: “Since my freshman year at U of A, we’ve been really bombarded with these headlines about like the latest atrocity committed by fraternities at the U of A.” From her perspective, that perceived drumbeat has made allegations of misconduct in fraternities feel “really, really common here.” Another student, senior Allison Parker, told CNN it was “definitely disheartening knowing that something this serious is happening.” Like Norris, she said she wasn’t necessarily surprised. As a woman on campus, she said she’s accustomed to covering her drink, bringing friends with her to the bathroom and butting in when she spots a friend talking to an unknown man. “As women, it’s built into us from a young age that we have to be fight or flight, rather than being able to really enjoy the moment,” said Parker, a financial aid peer adviser at the university’s Women & Gender Student Space. On campus this semester, Norris and Parker said they had noticed renewed discussion of sexual assault – along with some uneasiness – as the Cornell case continues drawing headlines. Hearing about the allegations at their school only added to that feeling of discomfort, Parker said. “It’s discouraging,” she said, “knowing it’s right in our backyard.” Mary Koss, a professor of public health and human sexualities at the university who researches the sexual exploitation of women, declined to comment specifically about sexual assault at the University of Arizona, saying she believes this alleged incident falls within general trends at campuses nationwide. But she noted that sororities for the most part do not allow liquor in their houses, making sorority members dependent on fraternities for parties. That leaves them more vulnerable, she said. “You’re always at a disadvantage when you’re on somebody else’s territory compared to your own,” she said. “The environment gets set up for women’s socialization opportunities: if they want to socialize within the Greek system, they are confined to environments that are controlled by men.” By Brittany Shammas and Isa Mudannayake, CNN If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:
