Editor’s note •This story discusses sexual violence. If you need assistance or resources, Utah’s 24-hour sexual violence crisis and information hotline is available at 801-736-4356.
The number of sexual assault cases reported last year at the University of Utah is elevated, marking the second year in a row the school has disclosed a significantly high count.
In 2024, there were a total of 146 rapes reported at the school, according to newly released numbers from the school’s required report on violence both on and near campus.
Most — 110 — stem from one “multiple-month relationship plagued by interpersonal violence,” the university said in a news briefing and repeated in an alert sent out to campus early Friday.
Both the victim and the alleged perpetrator were students at the time, the U. noted. And both have since graduated and left the school.
The assaults allegedly happened in on-campus student housing during the 2022-23 school year and were reported to school police about a year after the relationship ended, the university said. They are included in the 2024 tally because that’s when the U. learned about the allegations and how the school is federally mandated to count them.
The U.S. Department of Education also requires that each alleged assault be counted separately, including when that involves the same alleged victim reporting repeated abuse in a single relationship.
The state’s flagship school released the data early — it is required that colleges accepting public funding post the previous year’s crime statistics by Oct. 1 — in order to explain the increase and provide context, officials said.
“At the University of Utah, we hear and believe victim-survivors,” the school said in a statement. “Sexual assault has long been a tool used by abusive partners to exert power and control over another person.”
The report for crime in 2023 included a similar increase at the U., with 175 total rapes reported. The school said 150 stemmed from one “dangerous relationship” in 2021-22.
That earlier relationship did not involve any of the same people from the cases reported for 2024.
Rebecca Walsh, a spokesperson for the school, noted the alleged victim wouldn’t have been influenced by seeing those heightened counts because they reported their assaults before the school’s 2023 numbers were released last year.
The numbers from each of those alleged abusive relationships are also counted in the totals for dating violence. In 2024, there were 122 cases of dating violence at the U. (with 110 from the single relationship). And in 2023 there were 158 (with 150 from the single relationship).
“In both cases, students documented almost-daily patterns of nonconsensual sex with ex-partners,” said the U.’s Chris Linder, senior advisor on interpersonal violence to the university’s president.
Linder said the cases reiterate that rape is more likely to occur with a person whom a victim knows — and not “a stranger jumping out of the bushes,” a common misconception.
And even in a relationship, she stressed, it is still assault when there is not consent.
Colleges and universities are required to annually compile what’s known as a Clery Report, which is where the data the U. released Friday comes from. The standard for what’s included is different from the criminal justice system and doesn’t require a conviction to be part of the count.
The Clery data also counts a report to any office on campus, not just police.
The person who came forward with dozens of reports in 2024 asked for resources from the school, the university said, but did not wish for the case to be prosecuted.
Linder said seeing an increase in the numbers can feel alarming. But it’s also a sign that people feel comfortable reporting allegations. Historically, Linder noted, victims often don’t report “for a variety of reasons,” including lack of trust in the system, “minimizing their own experiences” and not knowing where to go.
“We’re going to continue to have a problem around dating and sexual violence for a long time, unfortunately,” she added. “The numbers haven’t budged. It’s not a University of Utah problem specifically. It’s a national problem.”
The U. has pushed to increase awareness and safety on campus after several high-profile cases of intimate partner violence in recent years.
Fondling, stalking also up
The number of fondling and stalking cases reported at the U. also increased for 2024.
There were 83 fondling cases included in the most recent Clery report, compared to 55 for 2023.
And 131 stalking cases were counted, compared to 117 for 2023.
Stalking, according to the Clery requirements, involves at least two incidents that cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or for the safety of others.
That’s a lower standard than in a criminal case. So is the threshold for fondling.
Of the fondling cases, 51 were reported at the U.’s hospital or health care clinics. Todd Justesen, the U.’s Clery officer, said even if a patient accidentally touched a caregiver’s groin, breast or butt, it’s counted.
Campus climate survey
The U. on Friday also published the results of a campus climate survey conducted in spring 2024. Of the 32,881 students on campus, 1,966 responded.
The survey found that 22% reported having experienced stalking since they enrolled at the U.
It also found that 15% experienced intimate partner violence. The survey said that’s generally higher than the self-reported national average for intimate partner violence.
The numbers were generally higher for female and nonbinary students, which Linder said is expected and follows national trends.
The survey was conducted by the national group Rankin Climate, using new software and tweaked questions that made comparing results from past years difficult.
Overall, students generally reported a strong understanding of consent — with 97% saying they agree that must be given at each step in a sexual encounter.
There continued to be gaps, according to the results, in students knowing where to report. And there is a persistent correlation with those who experience an assault and the likelihood that they ultimately drop out.
Rankin Climate advised the U. to launch a communication campaign “clarifying reporting, help-seeking options and support pathways.”
Walsh, the spokesperson at the U., said the school is still assessing the results and working on needed interventions. Already, all students and employees are required to complete annual training on sexual harassment.
Other Utah schools
More crime data from the state’s other public and private colleges and universities is expected to be released early next month.
So far, three other Utah schools have also posted 2024 numbers early: Salt Lake Community College, Snow College and Utah State University.
After five years reporting zero rapes, SLCC had a total of three reported in 2024. That is across seven separate campuses. Snow College similarly jumped from one reported rape in 2023 to five in 2024.
USU’s Logan campus also saw an increase, up from three rape reports in 2023 to seven in 2024. It had 14 cases of stalking, up from six in 2023.