December 02, 2016
Courtesy/for PhillyVoice
The Villanova University sign at Lancaster and Ithan avenues.
Officials at Villanova University have closed an investigation into an incident where a student was allegedly assaulted by a group of white males yelling "Trump, Trump, Trump" in early November.
Jonathan Gust, a spokesperson for the university, said the student who alerted the school of the alleged assault has decided "not to pursue the matter any further."
The incident allegedly happened Nov. 10, when a female student said she was walking to the university's main campus from west campus through the SEPTA tunnel when the group approached and knocked into her. She then fell and hurt her head.
Lt. Andy Block of the Radnor Township Police Department, who participated in the search, said police also halted its investigation last month when the student told authorities that she didn't want police to look into the situation further.
The university continued to look into the incident despite the police department's announcement.
After word of the assault spread last month, the university took immediate action. Villanova said that whoever was found responsible would face "serious consequences for their actions and [would] be disciplined appropriately," according to a spokesperson.
Rev. Peter M. Donohue, Villanova's president, said that the behavior would not be tolerated in a campuswide email following the report.
"Over the past few days, I have been deeply disturbed by several reports of members of our community using our nation’s political process as a justification for behaviors and language aimed to intimidate or humiliate other people," he said in the email sent in early November. "This type of behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated at Villanova."
