On June 14, The Diamondback published the guest column “Finding a lasting solution.” The author, Emily Carroll, described a conversation she had at 4:30 a.m. on October 28, 2011 in Hornbake Library with a housekeeper who said she was sexually assaulted and physically injured during an early-morning shift a few weeks earlier.
Immediately upon reading this column – which was when I first heard of the aforementioned incident – I initiated an investigation that included engaging University Police. As part of the investigation, all housekeeping staff members who worked in Hornbake Library last October were interviewed. Inquiries were also made to representatives of Housekeeping Services, Facilities Management, and the Human Resources department. No one we spoke with indicated any knowledge of such an incident; to date we have found no other evidence to corroborate the incident described in the guest column. University Police are holding their inquiry as closed pending further information.
I also took the reported incident as an opportunity to clearly restate to everyone in Facilities Management that sexual assault, sexual harassment or any other form of sexual misconduct will not be tolerated; such unconscionable behavior is prohibited by university policy, as well as state and federal law; the standard university sanction for sexual misconduct or assault is termination from university employment, and timely reporting is vitally important to preventing future incidents.
We are deeply committed to ensuring all employees in Facilities Management work in a safe, supportive and respectful environment. We currently are engaged in a number of steps designed to help us better ensure that all units in Facilities Management provide such a work environment. Critical to that goal is that our employees feel confident they can safely and securely report sexual assault or other abuse or misconduct, that such reports will be thoroughly and fairly investigated and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken if wrongdoing is discovered.
In the Facilities Management-wide communication that this incident prompted, I emphasized to our staff then, and reiterate now, that their health and safety is our paramount concern. Furthermore, anyone who is a victim of, or witness to, sexual assault, misconduct or sexual harassment is strongly encouraged to immediately report the incident. I reminded our supervisors that they have a legal requirement to report any such incident and noted to all that this university strictly prohibits retaliation against any person filing a complaint or cooperating in the investigation of such a complaint.
Finally, I reminded our staff, and would like to remind everyone in our university community, of the various resources for reporting sexual assault misconduct or harassment or obtaining counseling for victims, such as University Police, the Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program and the Sexual Assault Center at Prince George’s County Hospital, among other resources.
Carlo Colella is the associate vice president of Facilities Management. He can be reached at ccolella@umd.edu.
